Karla Dickens
My Mother’s Keeper
22 February 2020 > 30 August 2020
Opening on Friday 21 February 2020, 6-8PM, RSVP here
My Mother’s Keeper features a film and a series of new photographs produced as a result of a collaboration between the artist
Karla Dickens and writer Bruce Pascoe. Initiated by the Kandos School of Cultural Adaptation, the work focuses on the urgent need for us to
protect and conserve the land and our environment.
Over two days, Dickens worked with Blacklock Media to make the film, which features Pascoe walking through Gamilaaraay Country near the town of Bingara in the north-east of NSW. Walking alongside Pascoe are a group of Aboriginal primary school children from Bingara Central School. The children represent the next generation, who must be equipped with the right skills and knowledge to implement positive changes to continue to be successful custodians of the land. The capes, created by Dickens and worn by Pascoe and the children in the film, will also be on display.
View the eCatalogue
IMAGE > Karla Dickens, Mother’s Little Helpers VI, 2019, inkjet print, 67 x 120 cm.
Image courtesy of the artist and Andrew Baker Art Dealer.
"An affinity for the broken, the damaged and discarded infuses all of Ms. Dickens’ work, influencing both her medium and her deeply
political message.
She has been a practicing artist for decades and her work is featured in major cultural institutions, but there is a sense that her
rightful recognition has only just arrived".
Charlotte Wood, “Finding Beauty in Broken Things, an Aboriginal Artist Finds Recognition at Last”, New York Times, 12 April, 2019.
Karla Dickens
Dickens’ work engages with a range of vitally important social, political and cultural issues. As a Wiradjuri woman, Dickens’ work is
profoundly informed by her Aboriginality, her sexuality and her personal history. The work is compelling on an
emotional level, as well as addressing some of the deep-seated problems faced by women, the LGBTQI community and Indigenous
Australians.
IMAGE > Portrait of Karla Dickens. Image courtesy of the artist.
Dickens has shown her work in solo and group exhibitions across Australia for over 20 years. Her work is represented in many public and private collections including the NGA, MCA, Art Gallery of Western Australia, National Museum of Australia and Bendigo Art Gallery. Dickens holds a Bachelor of Fine Art from the National Art School, Sydney.
IMAGES > Karla Dickens, My Mother’s Keeper [installation views], 2020.
Image courtesy of the artist and Andrew Baker Art Dealer. Photograph: Theresa Harrison Photography.
This work was produced with the support of Create NSW, and forms part of the project 'An artist, a farmer & a scientist walk into
a bar…'.
This project was initiated by the
Kandos School of Cultural Adaptation in partnership with Cementa
Inc., Starfish
Initiatives and The
Living Classroom in
Bingara.
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