Seen/Unseen

Glen Eira City Gallery 2022

Seen/Unseen depicts both the inner and outer lives of people who live, work or study in the City of Glen Eira. Using double-sided portraits, the exhibition represents the diverse cultures, backgrounds and experiences of the people of Glen Eira. On one side realistic oil paintings depict what the world perceives, the ‘seen’. On the reverse is the ‘unseen’, an abstract mixed media representation of the inner life of the sitter.

Acknowledgement of Country

I wish to acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the place I call home from whom sovereignty has never been ceded. In particular I recognise Boonwurrung people of the Kulin Nations as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country on which I work and live. I recognise their long standing and continuing connection to Country, waters and community and pay my respects to them and their cultures and to Elders past, present and emerging. I acknowledge that I have lived my much of my life in ignorance of the rich culture and diversity of the peoples of the First Nations. While I continue to be ignorant of much of the great knowledge, understanding and spirituality of Indigenous peoples, I hope, with respect, to continue to learn and I give thanks for their willingness to help me learn. I wish also to acknowledge the great trauma and pain suffered by Indigenous peoples through the invasion of their lands and that my family and I have benefited as a result of this brutality. I humbly offer my personal apology and I hope that together and with mutual respect we can acknowledge and address the trauma brought on by colonisation and build a better future.