Collection Details

Name/TitleThe Darug Story of the Three Sisters Songlines

About this objectArtist Statement:
"Many Darug people have made Blacktown home since before colonisation and also through the Blacktown Native Institution where Aboriginal children were educated. This painting is about a Darug story told through our oral history and storytelling and now through our written stories."

This painting tells the Darug story of the Three Sisters in The Blue Mountains. The Three Sisters lived in the Jamison Valley as part of the Katoomba mob. They were young and their hearts were captured by three young men from a neighbouring tribe. The Lore forbad them from marrying outside their own people. One day the young men decided to capture the sisters and take them away to be wed. A major battle ensued as both tribes clashed. Their father, a clever man, feared for the safety of the girls, and with his magic stone, cast a spell to turn them to stone to keep them safe from harm. He then turned himself into the Black Cockatoo and during the battle he lost his magic stone. The father and the girls were forever frozen in time because he couldn’t reverse his spell.

Leanne Jones is a Darug and Wiradjuri Woman, living on Darug Country in the Hawkesbury/Blue Mountains. Jones has been engaged in art since childhood and has enjoyed tuition over the years from many well-known Australian artists as well as attending TAFE to study Aboriginal art and culture.

Jones’ artwork is representational and is created with watercolour, acrylic, collage and mixed media that create paintings full of light, colour and texture. Her paintings tell stories about her Ancestors, their culture, hunting, bush tucker, plants, animals and living on Country. Jones travels on Country often and this influences her art and storytelling of the landscape and gives her paintings a sense of place. Her work is held in private and public collections in Australia, New Zealand, UK and USA.

MakerJones, Leanne

Maker RoleArtist

Date Made2023

Medium and MaterialsWatercolour and mixed media on canvas

Place MadeOceania, Australia, New South Wales, Sydney, Blacktown

Inscription and MarksSigned, bottom left recto

TechniquePainted

Measurements60 h x 91 w x 3 d cm

Named CollectionBlacktown City Art Collection

Credit Line© Leanne Jones
Acquired 2024, Blacktown City Art Prize exhibition.
Blacktown City Art Collection
Photo: silversalt Photography

Object TypePainting

Object numberBCC JNS 002