When Cleonie Quayle’s daughter became addicted to ice and was incarcerated, her grandchildren were placed in her care and she had to stop full-time work. “I had to rethink my life,” she said. “I’ve always made things, and I thought, ‘Oh, well, I’ll make jewellery.’” She started selling earrings at markets and eventually developed her own business.
On Wednesday evening, the Malyangapa Barkindji woman won a National Indigenous fashion award (Nifa) for her first piece of clothing: a dress made from hundreds of gold-tipped jacaranda seed pods, inspired by the resilience and recovery journey of her daughter, Chloe – AKA rapper Barkaa.
