For artist Avrille Burrows, the okra is a point of fascination and curiosity.
One time, when her partner and family were cooking with the vegetable, Burrows had the idea to create artistic works of okra.
“I went on this journey of doing it in plaster, doing it in clay, cooking it, growing it,” Burrows said.
“I’ve made 300 or 400 out of the clay. I make each one by hand. It’s not a mold or anything.”
In her exhibition, ‘Okra Memory’, Burrows honours the vegetable’s resilience and adaptability, its role in intergenerational memory, and its enduring presence in black and brown kitchens.
Works in the exhibition were informed by Burrows’ extensive research on the vegetable.
“It just gave me a pretty interesting insight into how sturdy the plant was and how drought-resistant it was, and where it originated from –Ethiopia, West Sudan – and how it got to India,” Burrows said.
“It had this metaphor of being able to still be quite resilient … It’s able to adapt to its environment.
“I think I took it as a metaphor for our existence here as immigrants as well, coming from our home countries.”
Burrows is also an accredited mental health social worker and arts therapist.
She said her art is informed by her therapy work.
“Bringing that aspect into it is pretty important,” Burrows said.
‘Okra Memory’, a free exhibition supported by Brimbank Council, is showing at the Sunshine Art Spaces Window Gallery, 2 City Place, Sunshine until 27 November.
Details: creativebrimbank.com.au
