Through his eyes: Corban Clause Williams brings his artwork to a new audience

The Guardian

2 days ago

In the desert of northern central Western Australia, north-east of Kumpupirntily (Lake Disappointment), is an ancient water hole. For thousands of years, the Martu people have used this water source, known as Kaalpa, for nourishment and cultural practice as they have walked and hunted.
It's from here that Corban Clause Williams's story comes – and now it will be told to a new audience.
Williams is a young Martu man living in Newman, in the Pilbara. As well as working as an on-Country ranger, he is an acclaimed artist and part of the Martumili Artists group.
He learnt from his nana, who would paint on one side of a canvas while he experimented on the other.
Photograph: Martumili Artists
'Watching her and doing it, she would tell me to sit there and I was painting with her,' he says. 'She was telling me to do it on that side, do it yourself.'
Each one of Williams's paintings tells the story of pujimanpa – desert dwellers – who spent their lives around Kaalpa. By including symbols from the land such as yapu (rocks), tuwa (sandhills) and karru (creek), Williams says he's creating something like a map of Martu Country, tracing journeys taken by the old people.
Making his art, he says, creates an opportunity to share stories with people who see the paintings. When visitors attend galleries or exhibitions and meet an artist such as Williams, they can ask questions and learn more about the Martu and the Dreamtime.
'The person [viewing the artwork] can know and understand properly about the painting,' Williams says.
His connection to Country exists in all of his paintings. 'If you like painting in the art centre in Newman,' he says, 'you start painting your Country and think about your ngurra [your Country]. I see this connection a lot when people aren't on Country – they paint about their ngurra so that they can reconnect to Country.'
Williams's art first caught the attention of Specsavers in 2023, when his fellow Martumili artist, Helen Dale Samson, had her art featured on a limited-edition range of eyewear. When Specsavers was looking for an artist for its newest range, Williams stood out for his youthful, contemporary storytelling.
The range is part of Specsavers' partnership with The Fred Hollows Foundation. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are about three times more likely than non-Indigenous Australians to experience vision loss and blindness. To fight this inequity, Specsavers has worked with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists to create ranges of glasses that support the foundation.
Now in its ninth year, the initiative will feature Williams's story of Kaalpa.
'[It's] something different,' Williams says. 'My eyes are right, but in the future I might need them.'
The process began with selecting a shortlist of paintings that Williams felt were his strongest. From there, he worked with Specsavers on the composition and how they would appear on the glasses. With the artwork selected, Williams – a self-confessed fashionista – was invited to Specsavers in Perth, where he tried on and chose from prototypes that would become his own limited-edition range.
At every step, Specsavers has collaborated with Martumili Artists and Williams. He travelled to Melbourne for the campaign production, meeting the photographer and videographer, and spending the day on location. Williams was interviewed about his work and the stories of Kaalpa. When the range launched on 10 July, he was there to enjoy the celebrations.
He's proud to be sharing the stories of his old people and the land they walked. 'When you're on Country it makes you pukurlpa,' says Williams, referring to the sense of pride and happiness many of the Martumili artists share. 'When you stay in towns and city too much, and you say, I want to go back home, you feel happy.'
Martu paintings are an important way of passing stories from one generation to the next, and giving others a way to understand them. Now, they also provide a way to create fairer access to sight.
Specsavers hopes this year's glasses will once again generate a significant contribution to The Fred Hollows Foundation. For every pair sold, $25 will be donated to support the foundation's efforts to restore sight, improve access to care, and build a workforce of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to ensure eye health services are culturally appropriate.
'Wearing them will make you happy,' Williams says, referring to his kuru glass – a mixture of Martu and English meaning 'eye glass'.
'Strangers that don't know who I am rock up and I say, hey, I designed that.
'Sometimes I go out on Country and paint on Country. I come back here [to Newman] and end up doing a solo show or an exhibition. It all goes around.'
Explore the limited-edition Specsavers x Fred Hollows range.