Journey to the Fashion World - Rowena Morgan
JOURNEY TO THE FASHION WORLD - Rowena Morgan
Rowena is a Kimberley Girl. A Kija, Jaru and Gnoonyandi woman born in Wyndham, she grew up in Halls Creek and has been coming to Broome since the 80s. “I always knew I would live here, we’d come for holidays and then my dad bought his house here - it’s always been our second home”.
Rowena is a contemporary aboriginal artist who has developed her own style. She was immersed in the ‘Art World’ from a very young age, drawing inspiration from her Grandmother. “She was the first person I actually sat down and painted with. She taught me about our important family and cultural stories. My first screen print was of her country hills and waterholes - ‘Hill Country of the Lansdowne Ranges’.”
“I was exposed to textiles when I was at High School - textile design, screen printing and lino-block printing. I loved doing art and had really good teacher who saw my potential and encouraged me to keep doing my Indigenous designs rather than the Western style. I always had a good connection to the community and began doing commissions, including work for NAIDOC Week.”
I’ve had a lot of support from Nagula Jarndu (Saltwater Woman) Art Centre (NJ) here in Broome, where I do small-scale screen printing and print-press. They nominated me for the National Indigenous Fashion Award (NIFA), for Textile Design in 2023 and I won it! I got a three-way scholarship with the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT).
Following this success, Rowena featured in an article ‘First Nations Fashion’, in the Marie Claire magazine. “I had an interview with the designer to talk about my journey with RMIT - that was amazing! You normally read the magazine, you don’t be in the magazine! I also featured in Peppermint - another fashion magazine, and Rush. I had a feature with Rush (STM - The West Australian). I was also excited to make the front cover of the Broome Advertiser. I’m not famous but I’m enjoying the ride.
Rowena released her first Fashion Collection in 2024. She does fabric which she will make into her own clothing line, and earrings, exploring and using textiles. I do laser printed ones too, which NJ wholesale across the country.
“My designs have been in fashion shows in Broome and have gone to Hawaii and Darwin. I have two designs going to India through NJ, being turned into wood blocks for printing. It’s good to create relationships with other indigenous communities from other countries - we can learn from them and they can learn from us, we can share resources and continue to develop our enterprises. There’s lots of good, positive things happening. The new blocks will give us this different process because we can roll once and then press up to 5 times, whereas now I have to roll, press, roll, press, and so on.”
“I’m trained in print-press and also in curating exhibitions through the WA Art Gallery. I still attend workshops, always wanting to learn and better understand and support other artists and continue to grow my own art business - Nangarri Designs.”
Rowena has been employed in many Schools working with students. “I enjoy it, and my big thing I’d really like to do is teach the next generation, inspiring them especially at a young age, to keep them on track. I work with Kimberley Aboriginal Fashion Textiles Art (KAFTA) and I’d like to build up relationships with the Academies, Clontarf, Derby Sister Girls and I hope to go out into Communities. You don’t know, if you don’t have a go. I want to show them where they can go.”
I still do my paintings. I want to turn them into digital designs and use them in my textiles. I’ve already created digital designs for sports leggings and fishing shirts. I’ve been quite lucky, I did work for North West Regional TAFE which is around their campuses across the NW. I’ve done a couple of vehicle wraps - it’s quite exciting when you see your work driving around.
Photo Credits: Dylan Buckee
