Untold

16 Oct – 8 Dec 2024

Northern Rivers Community Gallery, Ballina, NSW, Australia

Untold /ʌnˈtəʊld/, adj. 1. so many or so great in amount or level that it cannot be counted, measured or expressed in words. 2. (of a story or event) not narrated or recounted.

Taking inspiration from the locked vault in the corner of the room and the colonial history of the building Untold is a site-specific response to NRCG’s Gallery 2.

Using contrasting materials such as concrete, steel, reclaimed plywood and coloured acrylic mirror I have combined sculpture, ink drawing and assemblage of found objects to investigate the concept of invisible histories; both internal and personal but also in terms of contemporary Australian culture.

The viewer is offered glimpses not of known facts or events but of empty spaces, absences of information and reflections of their own image thus highlighting the gaps in memory that we all carry within us and that is insidious to the architecture of our environment and our society. In contemplation of my own inheritance; the traditions, the trauma and the conditioning, I am interested in the memories that are locked away or lost to time but that still linger in the fabric of our existence.

My work is an invitation to examine the metaphorical vault and questions if you are ready to take a look inside?

This exhibition is presented with the deepest respect for all the people, history, knowledge, emotions and events that have been concealed, hidden and blocked out of memory either through malice and trauma or purely in the necessity for safe-keeping.