Rabbit Traps by Elaine Russell, 2002.

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Type: Acrylic paintings
Date: 2002
Place: National Museum of Australia, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia; Lake Cargelligo, New South Wales, Australia
Materials: Canvas, Paint - non specific, Wood
Collection: Elaine Russell collection
Accession number: 2002.0015.0005

Description

An acrylic painting signed and dated by the artist Elaine Russell in white paint on the proper bottom lower left of the canvas. Executed in a naive, narrative style it is rendered predominantly in purple, blue, green, red and orange acrylic paint on a canvas support which has been stretched and stapled to a simple square wooden frame. A wide blue river curves across the foreground of the picture from the middle left to the middle right. Three kangaroos are standing in front of the river and to the proper left and there are three small walking figures placed amongst the trees in the middle ground behind it. One is walking along one arm of a forked orange track towards the river. There are three different coloured houses in a row on the horizon in the background and the upper part of the sky has been painted in a hue of dark red. Trees that have a slender forked white trunk, topped by two balls of green leaves, are dotted across the landscape.

'When you talk about setting rabbit traps, naturally you would think it was for catching rabbits but not in our case! We caught possums instead. Sounds strange but true. My brothers and I would go into the bush and look for gum trees that had possum markings on them. Then we set the traps, put flour on them so at night the possums would see and smell the white flour and come down to eat the flour. Next morning, before we went to school, we would check to see if we had caught any possums which would become our supper that night. Mum would cook possum stew and freshly baked damper.' Elaine Russell 2002, artist's statement on file.

About the collection

The Elaine Russell Collection consists of 6 x 1 metre square acrylic paintings on canvas by Elaine Russell. Each of the images documents an aspect of life on Murrin Bridge Mission, NSW, in the 1950s. The images are accompanied by stories that narrate the memories depicted. All six canvases were painted during Russell's appointment as inaugural artist in residence for the In Sight On Site Program at the NMA These cultural narratives provide an Aboriginal perspectiive on an aspect of Australian history. The stories depicted are richly detailed and sometimes amusing making them expressive, accessible and informative. They create a dialogue between diverse community groups and provide a valuable primary source for social and political history. Likewise, they extend the notions of history making and history telling into contemporary art practices which more readily allow the telling of unmediated Indigenous histories. The voice which is revealed is authentic and original. Russell is an acclaimed Aboriginal painter and children's book author. Her works, have been collected by the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, the NSW Premier's Office, the NSW Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Health and the Art Gallery of New South Wales amongst others.

Read live from the Museum's Collection API (12/11/2026, 5:02:47 am). Record last updated by the Museum 2025-07-01. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.