Muriel Maynard, Trawlwoolway shell-necklace maker and weaver, was born on Cape Barren Island in 1937. Maynard’s mother died when she was very young, and the auntie who fostered her as a child was a shell necklace maker. Maynard used to collect shells on the beach with her aunt and other family members, and watch her string them together at night by the light of a kerosene lamp. She would come to carry on the necklace making tradition alongside her basket-weaving practice.

Maynard’s experimental approach to these crafts was reflected in her taste for stitching small, decorative posies of shells to the exterior fibre of some baskets. In 2004 Maynard participated in the Purrelayde Project along with fellow Tasmanian shell-necklace makers Dulcie Greeno and Corrie Fullard . The project was designed to facilitate passing on the techniques and traditions associated with the craft from this older generation of shellworkers to family members and peers.

Maynard participated in a number of exhibitions, including Tactility at the National Gallery of Australia in 2003 and Woven Forms, which began its national tour at Sydney’s Object Gallery in 2005. Her necklaces and baskets are represented in numerous state museum and gallery collections. In 2000 Maynard and fellow Tasmanian Aboriginal artists Vicki West and Lola Greeno were commissioned by Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife to produce an installation for the Lake St Clair Visitor’s Centre.The three women collaborated to produce a woven sculpture that acknowledges the nine Aboriginal nations of Tasmania, and celebrates the continuity of Aboriginal people’s presence in Tasmania.

Muriel Maynard passed away in November 2008.

Writers:

Fisher, Laura
staffcontributor

Date written:

2008

Last updated:

2011