Yorta Yorta, Wiradjuri, KuKu, South Sea and Meriam woman Sofii Belling Harding has been practicing ceramics for seven years in Melbourne, with her passion leading to an exciting opportunity interstate earlier this year. Supported by Creative Australia’s Young People: First Nations Arts & Culture Project Fund, she developed a project that enabled her to undertake a six-week ceramics residency at Yarrabah Arts Centre, on Gunggandji Country, south of Cairns.
Sofii named this project ‘maya’ (Curing of Sickness, Yorta Yorta), stating “I wanted to acknowledge and solidify what my practice means to me…that it truly reflects the act of healing through creation.” The residency accounts for just one component of the project; she also set out to become a member of local pottery studio, Bisque Studios, which she began attending in January.
“As a member of Bisque Studios, I’ve had the space to develop my practice while receiving tailored support. With their understanding and enthusiasm for my project, I’ve been able to achieve my goal and envision a life that now feels possible.”
Sofii also reflects on the barriers she’s faced in the pursuit of her practice over the years, explaining “due to the absence of a First Peoples art centre in Melbourne, as well as First Peoples ceramic mentorship opportunities, pursuing my creative passion has been very difficult and often times disheartening.”
When asked what led to this unique opportunity, she explains “I applied after a conversation with my Aunty, Janina Harding, where we discussed the grant and thought of possible ceramic placements that would advance my knowledge of the practical, technical and artistic skills required to continue and advance my practice,” she says.
The late Simone Arnol, Yarrabah’s much-loved former manager, set in motion a mentorship with award-winning ceramicist and respected Elder, Aunty Michelle Yeatman and the opportunity to exhibit at this month’s Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) alongside the centre’s artists. As Sofii says, "I am eternally grateful for the support of Simone and feel deeply honoured that she afforded me the opportunity to pursue my peace and keep on dreaming.”
The residency provided an intensive period of learning and experimentation in ceramics, while under the guidance of internationally recognised and celebrated Master Potters that have been practicing since the 1970s’.
Her days at Yarrabah were nourishing in many ways – time that was as much about the people as the pottery. “Aunty Michelle brought me home-cooked meals and we bonded over music, Aunty Philomena [Yeatman] shared stories of country while weaving her baskets, and Aunty Edna [Ambrym] baked us damper each week and painted while yarning for hours. We had constant cups of tea, sweets, conversation and laughter,” she says. “The Aunties are incredibly skilled, with a wealth of experience and cultural knowledge that’s evident in all of their works, but they’re also hilarious, generous, caring and a joy to be around,”
“The feeling of being free to exist, connect and create in the presence of other Blackfullas is something I constantly yearn for and it is also my cultural birthright…when this need was met and nurtured, the difference in my spirit was immeasurable.”
When reflecting on the residency, she says “I was surprised and relieved at what I could achieve when I experienced what it felt like to create in an environment that was grounded in Blak love. There’s nothing that compares to feeling safe, understood and supported by other Blackfullas when you’re trying to unlock and express generations of pain, belonging and strength inside you.”
“Exhibiting my work at CIAF this year feels fitting, as the theme is 'Reclamation & Regeneration', and my work embodies both of those concepts, which speak to the active retrieval of what was taken, lost, archived or forgotten, and the return to Country, to memory, and to stories passed down through generations.”
As the mother of a two-year-old daughter, Sofii sees her practice as part of something bigger. “My practice is my peace, and through it I’m able to gain a deeper and truthful understanding of myself, my family and all those who I belong to…it’s also my cultural responsibility and birthright to pass down as much information as I can to my daughter and in turn, I simultaneously heal parts of myself,”
She states, “ceramics is a portal that allows me to shift paradigms, reinscribe narratives, set intentions and invest in my own survival.”
Alongside ceramics, Sofii is a multidisciplinary creative who also works as a community arts worker, writer, radio host and producer. She is currently curating the Uncle Jack Charles Festival Hub for YIRRAMBOI Festival 2027. YIRRAMBOI is a critically acclaimed international arts festival that occurs biannually in May, platforming expressions of culture, identity, unity and truth through evolutionary and experimental practices, breaking away from preconceived ideas of First Nations 'art'.
“Once CIAF finishes, I will begin to think of the next steps I want to take with my ceramics practice, which will most likely be an exhibition here in Melbourne. To finally experience the mental, physical and spiritual shift during my residency has made me more determined to carve out space for both myself and my community moving forward.”
Meanwhile, she is eagerly awaiting to reunite with Aunty Michelle, Aunty Philomena and Aunty Edna at CIAF, where she will see her finished works for the first time, which were still in the kiln awaiting firing when she returned home from Yarrabah in May.
Sofii Belling-Harding’s work will show at Cairns Indigenous Art Fair from 9 to 12 July 2026 alongside artists from Yarrabah Arts Centre. Her project ‘maya’ (Curing of Sickness, Yorta Yorta) was supported by Creative Australia’s Young People: First Nations Arts & Culture Project Fund.
Main image of Sofii Belling Harding by Tiffany Garvie
Images of residency courtesy of the artist
