Esme Timbery

Esme Russell (; 14 February 1931 – 6 October 2023) was an Australian Bidjigal artist and shellworker. Timbery's shellwork had contemporary elements blended with the traditional medium. Her work is in the collections of several art museums throughout Australia.

Biography Timbery was born on 14 February 1931 in the New South Wales town of Port Kembla (now a suburb of Wollongong) and was of Bidjigal Aboriginal heritage. Timbery began to create shellwork at a young age. She came from a long line of shellworkers including her great-grandmother, Emma Timbery. Timbery and her sister, Rose, began to sell their shellwork in the 1940s. ABC produced a documentary about her in 2007, titled She Sells Sea Shells. She had eight children. For the Message Sticks Festival in 2001, Timbery was asked to create shellworked versions of the Sydney Opera House.

Timbery's piece Shellworked Slippers (2008) was made up of 200 scuffs embellished with shellwork. Three of her shellworked Sydney Harbour Bridges are part of the collection of the National Museum of Australia. Timbery also has art at the National Gallery of Australia and the Art Gallery of New South Wales.

Honours A building at the University of New South Wales was named in honour of Timbery, the Creative Practice Lab (ETCPL). The building is decorated with a mural titled In her hands and it is the first building at the University named after an Aboriginal woman.