Celebrate Sodashi's 25th anniversary with a special collaboration featuring Sheri Skele, a renowned Indigenous artist.
A Journey to Celebrate
Sheri's creation, 'A Journey to Celebrate', showcases vibrant botanical symbols that highlight our commitment to natural, vegan ingredients and resonate with her Bidjara heritage. Her artwork can be found in the Anniversary Collection, with an exclusively designed scarf.
"In this artwork you will see Macadamia and Kakadu Plum seed pods, lemon myrtle flower buds and fresh rainwater as a representation of Sodashi’s botanical and vegan friendly ingredients. The different coloured dots throughout symbolise diversity as a way of recognising that your brand seeks to nurture and celebrate each individuals unique beauty.
I have painted kangaroo tracks to represent Sodashi’s values and passion to live cleanly and respect the environment, which aligns closely to the relationship Aboriginal people have with the environment as well as harbouring a thorough understanding of the cycle of life.
The three circles connected with journey lines symbolise meeting places and are a representation of Sodashi’s journey from the early makings in The Health Cottage, to Megans Kitchen, the launching of Sodashi in 1999, and all the way to the celebration of its 25th Anniversary. At the bottom of the artwork you will see the Swan River which symbolises Whadjuk country and the deep connection they have to its waterways. The water is flowing and in abundance with marine life which is essential to Spiritual and Cultural practices, as well as environmental management, food production, language and Aboriginal Lore. Water connects People and communities to land, and to each other. " - Sheri Skele
Dive into Sheri's artistic world and discover how her heritage influences our brand ethos through with her exclusive interview.
Q: Hi Sheri, can you tell us a bit more about yourself and how your passion for art evolved? Did you grow up around other creatives?
My name is Sheri, I’m a mum to three gorgeous and very active kids, I’m a wife, an artist, and a CrossFit gym owner so life is very busy. I began painting as a way to connect with my culture and to learn more about our history and my family tree. One day I just intuitively picked up a paint brush and started painting and it felt so natural and I knew right then and there that this is what I was supposed to be doing. I have a few creative friends who inspire me and are always very supportive of my artistic journey.
Q: How has painting allowed you to connect with your Aboriginal heritage and community?
I didn’t discover my aboriginal heritage until I was in my teens and sadly I didn’t understand the importance of it at the time, though I was always proud of my heritage. Painting has bridged a gap for me in allowing me to feel closer and more connected to my culture.
Q: Sodashi is honoured to collaborate with you on such a special limited edition collection. Would you walk us through the symbolic elements you’ve used and the inspiration behind them?
It’s been such a lovely process working with Sodashi and I’m so happy with the piece I created for the collection. The artwork is called ‘A Journey to Celebrate’ and I really wanted to tell the story of how Sodashi came to life and the journey along the way. I also included symbols to represent the beautiful botanical and vegan friendly ingredients that Sodashi uses including Macadamia and Kakadu Plum seed pods, lemon myrtle flower buds and fresh rainwater. I have also painted dots in different colours to symbolise diversity as a way of recognising that Sodashi seeks to nurture and celebrate each individual's unique beauty. In the piece you will also see kangaroo tracks to represent Sodashi’s values and passion to live cleanly and respect the environment, which aligns closely to the relationship Aboriginal people have with the environment as well as harbouring a thorough understanding of the cycle of life.
Q: Have you delved much into the world of skincare? We would love to know more about your beauty routine and if there’re staples you can’t live without!
I love skin care however skincare does not love my sensitive skin. I’ve tried lots of different products over the years, from natural to more toxic ingredients and all seem to irritate my skin. I’m currently on a new skincare journey with a dermatologist to treat my rosacea and I’m loving the products prescribed, so hopefully I get some positive results from it. Looking after my skin has always been important to me and I’ve always tried to be sun smart and drink lots of water which is something that I want to pass down to our children too.
Q: Working from a home studio, what does your daily routine looks like and how do you best get into the ‘zone’? Does your motherhood influence this creative space and your artistry?
It can definitely be tricky trying to juggle everything and I find that Inspiration comes and goes and it can be particularly difficult at times to stay in the ‘creating’ space when I need to also be managing the admin side of my business as well as look after my family. I find that I have weeks when the creativity just flows and getting outside in nature always helps with that. I really like to work in a clean and tidy space with my favourite music playing and a musky scent flowing in the diffuser.
Q: Any exciting new releases coming up soon that we can be on the lookout for? What’s next for Sheri Skele?
Haha I’ve actually been trying to slow down a little and give myself more time with the family but I’m not very good at the whole taking it easy thing. I have a few projects behind the scenes that I’m working on but sadly I can’t talk about them yet. I also have a third collection with Canva Represents which will release at the end of October early November. I’ve really loved working with Canva and can’t wait to share my new collection with everyone.
