The object of labor, the place of redemption" is a contemporary multi media exhibition which is an exploration of history, time and the place of women in the recollection of historical times. I have been interested in how we use our bodies to move through space and navigate the world around and in this exhibition,I investigated the charcoal burning industry of the Riverland region in the late 1800's to early 1900's. This was a large industry at one point and was taken up by many landholders in the area as a way to monetise the large clearing of land for agricultural use. I created a number of works in and around the historical charcoal pits at Blanchetown and used the metaphor of haunting to describe the historical place of women in this industry- perhaps not recorded in the pages of history but still a presence in time and space. I also worked with notions of the disjointed body and the strange to describe the devastating outcomes that the takeover of land had for many people, particularly the traditional owners of the area- the Ngarrindjeri people, and for the natural resources and landscapes that were harvested to create wood for charcoal production.

This work was presented as part of an installation at Mildura Regional Gallery in 2024.

The following is a link to an article in the PCA blog where I discuss the exhibition further. The Object of Labour, the Place of Redemption – Print Council of Australia