Bush Dolls by Laurel Nannup

Laurel Nannup is a well-known Western Australian printmaker who works in woodcut and etchings.

This print represent her memories of her mother and sister before the children were taken away by Native Welfare to Wandering Mission in the early 1950s.

In Bush Dolls, Laurel remembers a time growing up in the bush with her Mum, Dad and sisters, where her Mum would make ‘bush dolls’ for them out of a piece of fabric and some cotton string. Laurel recalls that her mum would bunch up a smaller piece of fabric into a shape of a ball and wrap a larger piece over the top and then secure the ball with the string to make the head and dress of the doll.