{{Short description|Australian Bidjigal artist and shellworker (1931–2023)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2023}} {{Use Australian English|date=June 2020}} {{Infobox artist | honorific_prefix = | name = Esme Russell | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_size = | alt = | caption = | native_name = | native_name_lang = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date|1931|02|14}} | birth_place = Port Kembla, New South Wales | baptised = | death_date = {{death date and age|2023|10|06|1931|02|14}} | death_place = New South Wales South Coast | resting_place = | education = | alma_mater = | known_for = | notable_works = | style = Shellcraft | movement = | spouse = | partner = | children = | parents = | father = | mother = | relatives = Emma Timbery (great-grandmother) | family = | awards = | signature = | signature_type = | signature_size = | signature_alt = | elected = | patrons = | memorials = | website = | module = }}
'''Esme Russell'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1483861|title=Timbery, Esme (1931–)|website=Trove|language=en|access-date=6 August 2019}}</ref> ({{née|'''Timbery'''}}; 14 February 1931 – 6 October 2023) was an Australian Bidjigal artist and shellworker. Timbery's shellwork had contemporary elements blended with the traditional medium. Her work is in the collections of several art museums throughout Australia.
== Biography == Timbery was born on 14 February 1931 in the New South Wales town of Port Kembla (now a suburb of Wollongong) and was of Bidjigal Aboriginal heritage.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.biennaleofsydney.art/artists/esme-timbery/|title=Esme Timbery|website=Biennale of Sydney|access-date=5 August 2019}}</ref> Timbery began to create shellwork at a young age.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/art-and-design/i-dont-want-it-to-die-out-esme-timbery-on-the-art-of-shell-work-20180115-h0icb4.html|title=The shell seeker: Esme Timbery's journey from Paddy's Markets to the Biennale|last=Kembrey|first=Melanie|date=16 January 2018|website=The Sydney Morning Herald|language=en|access-date=5 August 2019}}</ref> She came from a long line of shellworkers including her great-grandmother, Emma Timbery.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/artists/timbery-esme/|title=Esme Timbery :: The Collection|last=Jones|first=Jonathan|date=2014|website=Art Gallery NSW|access-date=5 August 2019}}</ref> Timbery and her sister, Rose, began to sell their shellwork in the 1940s.<ref name=":2" />
Timbery worked in La Perouse.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web|url=https://australiandesigncentre.com/object-space/esme-timbery-shellwork/|title=Esme Timbery: Shellwork|website=Australian Design Centre|language=en-AU|access-date=5 August 2019}}</ref> ABC produced a documentary about her in 2007, titled ''She Sells Sea Shells''.<ref name=":0" />
Esme Timbery died in a nursing home on the New South Wales South Coast, on 6 October 2023, aged 92.<ref name="abc2023">{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-10-06/nsw-indigenous-artist-la-perouse-elder-esme-timbery-dead/102945288|title=Renowned Indigenous artist and La Perouse elder Esme Timbery dies aged 92|publisher=ABC News|first=Sean|last=Tarek Goodwin|date=6 October 2023|access-date=6 October 2023}}</ref> She had eight children.<ref name="abc2023"/>
== Work == Timbery's work was exhibited at the 1988 opening of the Powerhouse Museum.<ref name=":0" /> In 1997, her work was exhibited at the Manly Regional Museum and Gallery in the show, "Djalarinji – Something that Belongs to Us."<ref name=":0" /> Her work was included in the 2004 show, "Terra Alterisu: Land of Another" held at the College of Fine Arts in Paddington.<ref name=":4" /> She also exhibited in the 2008 Campbelltown Arts Centre show "Ngadhu Ngulili, Ngeaninyagu – A Personal History of Aboriginal Art in the Premier State."<ref name=":3">{{Cite web|url=https://workingmodeloftheworld.com/Esme-Timbery|title=Esme Timbery|website=Working Model of the World|language=en|access-date=5 August 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E0VKdlh5gfsC&dq=%22Esme+Timbery%22&pg=PA124|title=MCA Collection|publisher=MCA Store|year=2012|isbn=9781921034541|pages=124|language=en}}</ref> For the Message Sticks Festival in 2001, Timbery was asked to create shellworked versions of the Sydney Opera House.<ref name=":0" /> The Opera House pieces reflected a more contemporary use of shellworking.<ref name=":3" /> In 2005, she earned the NSW Indigenous Art Prize for her work.<ref name=":0" /> She also decorated shoes for the design label, Romance Was Born for their Spring/Summer 2009/2010 collection.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://collection.maas.museum/object/406105|title=Platform shoes decorated by Esme Timbery for Romance Was Born|website=Museum of Applied Arts & Science|language=en|access-date=6 August 2019}}</ref>
Timbery's piece ''Shellworked Slippers'' (2008) was made up of 200 scuffs embellished with shellwork.<ref name=":0" /> The piece was also a memorial to the Stolen Generations.<ref name=":0" /> The piece was exhibited at the Sydney Biennale and is in the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art Australia.<ref name=":1" /> ''Shellworked Slippers'' also represented the strength of Aboriginal women.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mca.com.au/artists-works/exhibitions/21st-biennale-of-sydney/esme-timbery-21st-biennale-sydney/|title=Esme Timbery: 21st Biennale of Sydney|website=MCA Australia|language=en|access-date=5 August 2019}}</ref> Three of her shellworked Sydney Harbour Bridges are part of the collection of the National Museum of Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/collection/highlights/shellwork-sydney-harbour-bridge|title=Shellwork Sydney Harbour Bridge|website=National Museum of Australia|language=en|access-date=5 August 2019}}</ref> Timbery also has art at the National Gallery of Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://kaldorartprojects.org.au/event/artist-demonstrations-esme-timbery-and-marilyn-russell|title=Esme Timbery and Marilyn Russell|website=Kaldor Public Art Projects|language=en|access-date=5 August 2019}}</ref>
== Honours == A building at the University of New South Wales was named in honour of Timbery, the Creative Practice Lab (ETCPL).<ref name=":5">{{Cite web|url=https://newsroom.unsw.edu.au/news/art-architecture-design/famed-artists-colourful-legacy-comes-life-campus|title=Famed artist's colourful legacy comes to life on campus|date=28 February 2020|website=UNSW Newsroom|access-date=28 February 2020}}</ref> The building is decorated with a mural titled ''In her hands'' and it is the first building at the University named after an Aboriginal woman.<ref name=":5" />
In 2020, a river-class ferry on the Sydney Ferries network was named in her honour.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nswis.com.au/nswis-news/nswis-alumni-celebrated-on-new-river-class-ferries/|title=NSWIS alumni celebrated on new River Class ferries|publisher=New South Wales Institute of Sport|date=6 October 2020|access-date=6 October 2023|archive-date=9 October 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231009171821/https://www.nswis.com.au/nswis-news/nswis-alumni-celebrated-on-new-river-class-ferries/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== References == <!--- See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Footnotes on how to create references using <ref></ref> tags, these references will then appear here automatically --> {{Reflist|30em}}
== External links == *[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cuWs0XWEDw The Aboriginal shellworkers of La Perouse, Sydney: Esme Timbery and Marylin Russell] (2015 video)
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Timbery, Esme}} Category:1931 births Category:2023 deaths Category:Artists from New South Wales Category:Indigenous Australian artists Category:20th-century Australian women artists Category:20th-century Australian artists Category:21st-century Australian artists Category:21st-century Australian women artists Category:Australian artisans Category:Shell artists Category:People from Wollongong