Meet the team

Artist/Sessional Academic/Anthropologist

Indigenous Consultant

· BA Arts

· HDR Anthropology

· Phd Candidate Anthropology

 Art is my passion and is a universal living language that crosses boundaries and has the ability to be transformative. As an artist I aim to educate people to the richness and diversity of Australian Aboriginal societies and to help break down barriers, develop mutual respect and understanding and promote acceptance of contemporary Aboriginal Australians who identify as Aboriginal in which ever way they choose.  

I am a sessional academic with Curtin University, Western Australia. I teach Culture to Cultures and Australian Aboriginal Art. My career path has led me into Indigenous consultancy where I work in partnership with Noongar Elders Farley Garlett and Vivienne Hansen. 

Farley and I are the Aboriginal Development Managers for the Subiaco East Development Project, Development WA. We work closely together to embed Noongar culture into the projects that we participate in. 

Aunty Viv and I are working on revegetation and planting of native plants for the development projects that we work on.

I also love learning, therefore continue my formal education as I undergo a doctorate in Anthropology. My education, lived experience as a Noongar woman and desire to make change have exceeded my expectations.

It is with humbleness that I lead a team of strong like minded Aboriginal men and women who have guided me, helped me and supported the direction that Karda Designs is currently on. 

I feel blessed and grateful to be living the life that I do.

Consultant Archaeologist/Occasional Academic

BEc (Hons)

BA (Archaeology & Ancient History)

BA (First Class Honours in Archaeology)

PhD Candidate in Archaeology 

I was born in Scotland, and my parents brought us to Australia when I was 8, where we grew up in Perth and Katanning, and I lived in Broome and Canberra at different times as an adult. I come from a strongly cultural background on both sides, with my father’s heritage Celtic from Scotland and Ireland and my mother’s Jewish from Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and the Ukraine. 

I am passionate about everything archaeological. I love every aspect of it, from the research and logistics, to the excavation and surveying, and the post field sorting and reporting. Archaeology is so special because it connects people in a tangible way with their past, their ancestors, and it keeps us as modern humans connected with one another. 

I especially love archaeology because it reveals aspects of everyday life that we might not otherwise know; things that others might never have thought important enough to write about but which tell us what people were doing and where. Maybe I am nosy, but I love knowing the nitty gritty of people’s lives … if they were eating shell fish, or kangaroo, if they were getting ochres nearby or transporting them from hundreds of kilometres away, if they were painting on rocks for fun or ritual, if they lived at a place or were just visiting, and so much more …. and archaeology lets us tell those day to day stories. This is especially important in Australia because much of our history is oral, passed through Elders, and sometimes the remains of the ancestors (paintings and engravings) on the rocks, and archaeology provides the more demonstrable physical links with that past. 

Working with Aboriginal Australians is key to understanding what archaeology means in Australia, and in I have been able to follow my passion working in partnership with many Aboriginal groups in Western Australia, and I am never happier than sitting in the dirt helping them dig up their own past and sharing the stories of country.

I love to share my knowledge and understanding of archaeology through education, and I have worked with UWA on an occasional basis to lecture, tutor and teach on field schools over a number of years.

Barbara and I thought we would work together soon after we met many years ago, but resolved to finish our PhDs before we commenced. Luckily life and opportunities have intervened and I am now delighted to be working and laughing and learning with Barbara and the Karda team, while I finalise my PhD on Rock Art and Identity in Bunuba and Gooniyandi country.

Environmental Field Technician

Painter/Building and Construction

I am a Ballardong, Whadjuk Noongar and the son of Barbara Bynder. I currently work as the Environmental Officer for WSP Australia. My work takes me into remote areas, bushland and private landscapes that require me to work autonomously whilst following a specific set of guidelines to meet the requirements of my profession. My work with WSP has developed within me a strong work ethic that allows me to perform my duties in the most efficient time possible whilst maintaining the professional  standards of the industry. 

In my spare time, I work for Karda Designs painting the designs that Barbara creates onto public spaces. Our most recent work took place at the Hutton Street Underpass, Osborne Park, Western Australia. Karda was contracted by BMD Constructions to develop, create and produce the design.

I am able to work unsupervised and maintain a work ethic that produces quality results. 

I am somewhat of a perfectionist therefore my work is guaranteed to satisfy our client needs.

Research/Project Support Assistant/Artist

I am a creative Whadjuk - Ballardong Noongar woman and mother based in the South West region of WA. I have had a life-long aspiration to connect with culture, and share and educate my own children and the community, with the hope of encouraging and embracing integration of our modern world with the wisdoms of our ancestors.

I have experience across a variety of research and educational industries, and becoming a part of Karda Designs and Yok Moort as a research and program support assistant has allowed me to connect with family and culture by learning from my Aunty Barb as well as fulfilling my aspiration of learning, sharing, conserving and integrating Noongar culture into our modern lives.

I am a practicing artist, specialising in oil, acrylic and water colour, and more recently exploring digital art and design. My art business 'Studio Boodja' is a creative space channelling my indigenous intuitions and the Wadandi Noongar country I have grown up on with my contemporary style of art and expression.

An interest in personal development and healing through realising my own strength and challenging my limitations has led me to teach aerial fitness, predominately aerial yoga - serving the community, and in particular women, helping them strive for personal goals and empower themselves through strength and courage.

The undertaking of historical research, recording stories of indigenous peoples past and present, and connecting and representing aboriginal life and culture I feel is a very important and wonderful job that not only brings learning and healing to myself but hopefully the wider community and our children; and a blended modern world that represents the land we all walk on and highlights where we can all go as modern community.