Niah Juella Mcleod is an Aboriginal artist of mixed heritage and a descendant of the Monero, Wandandian, and Yuin peoples from the southeast of Australia. She is the daughter of Kathrin Sharp, a painter, and Bobby Mcleod, an Aboriginal activist, poet, healer, musician, and Elder of the Yuin Nation. Her work reflects her exploration of identity and her reflections on her roots, both Aboriginal and Western. Niah Juella Mcleod reimagines the ancestral traditions of her people and offers a contemporary narrative connected to her land.

The background of her work evokes the effects of light filtering through the canopy, recalling the sun’s rays shining through the branches, as a metaphor for the connection between nature and the spiritual world.

The stringybark eucalyptus is Niah Juella Mcleod’s clan totem. In Aboriginal culture, clan totems are spiritual and cultural symbols that link each clan to an animal, plant, or natural phenomenon, representing ancestors or protectors. These totems define group identity, shape rituals, social rules, and taboos, and guide the relationship between individuals and the natural world.

The stringybark eucalyptus is native to Australia, particularly common along the coasts of New South Wales and Queensland. The term “stringybark” refers to the texture of its bark, which is long and fibrous. Within Aboriginal communities in Australia, the bark holds deep cultural and spiritual significance.

In Aboriginal language, Bana means “rain,” Gugaa translates as “stringybark,” and Waraawara means “fishing line.” In this work, the artist refers to a fishing session in the rain, sheltered beneath the eucalyptus trees.