By Charlene Gatt
WEST Footscray artist Paola Balla has won a Victorian Indigenous Art Award.
Ms Balla, 36, was last month shortlisted for her piece A Little Birdy Told Me, a delicate sculpture of a bird and a small child that is covering their face.
Ms Balla told Star the piece represented her childhood.
“My grandmother and mother and aunty talked to us about how birds are messengers in Koori culture and that you need to take notice of them and sometimes they can be bringing you good news or bad news,” she said.
“It’s kind of a reminder that we’re all connected to each other and that everyone in the world is connected, including animals and plants,” she said.
