In I WAS HERE seven artists turn conventional history on its head. The world is flipped upside down, long held beliefs are disproved and fact replaces fiction as the artists grapple with what’s real, imagined or forgotten over time. Comprising photographic and sculptural works I WAS HERE is a fascinating commentary on history itself and our relationship to the past.
Robyn Stacey (NSW) has used a camera obscura to produce rich and vivid images of the studios of iconic Australian artists.
Emerging artist Tom Buckland (ACT) presents a constellation of imagined narratives that audiences view one at a time through a series of peepholes.
Alex Seton (NSW) continues his work with marble, creating sculptures which highlight our transient impact on the world around us. He also disproves the existence of an island which has been included on maps for many years.
Amy Spiers (VIC) looks at how Joan Lindsay’s famous Australian novel Picnic at Hanging Rock and the 1975 film adaptation has, in the public consciousness, robbed Hanging Rock of its true history.
Kokatha and Nukunu artist Yhonnie Scarce (VIC) reflects on lost connection to place for Aboriginal people forcibly removed from their homelands through a series of delicate hand-blown glass sculptures.
Kate McMillan (UK) presents a series of photographs based on the intriguing and often forgotten history of The Buried Village in New Zealand. Lake Tarawera was the site of a devastating volcanic eruption in the late 19th century that buried villages surrounding the lake.
Wanda Gillespie (NZ) amalgamates mythologies to create exquisite handcrafted objects which bear all the hallmarks of cultural artefacts but are in fact completely made up. Imagining societies that could have existed, her works are without history.
I WAS HERE is curated by Anna Louise Richardson (WA).
