‘It reminds us that a violent state that has weaponised the physical and mental disintegration of ‘outsiders’ can also turn that violence within… We can glimpse the uncomfortable truth that citizenship – as the institution through which to be recognised as a political subject – is exclusive, elusive, and fragile…’
‘When you control the narrative, the context, the output, and what you are prepared to provide and not provide it has left the realm of service. You have a product…’
‘In the hypercognitive western society, where intellect and reason are prized over love and relational connections, the fear of loss of cognition drives our response to dementia…’
Between 1992 and 2012 there was a 15-fold increase in opioid dispensing in Australia
‘The story that we may not know, watching from the safety of our couches, is that of Ameer (Bazzi). A father who will stop at nothing to see his family in the imagined safety of Australian borders, only to have his family, hopes and sanity ripped apart…And this is where the drama lies. It lies in the truth…’
“She does not represent her lover; she presents her lover at the threshold of appearing and fading away. Painting lets her see—and show—this sacred threshold that opens all presence.”
‘Stateless reminds me that it is my government that deliberately makes the lives of asylum seekers more difficult than is needed. It reminds me that people who have sought asylum on our shores continue to be locked up in indefinite detention…’
‘The mental health toll of the marriage equality survey is still being researched. I watched my clients’ depression and anxiety skyrocket through sky-written messages of “Vote No”…’
Our commitment to cooperate with community in 2020 has been marked by the call to stay at home and live in isolation.
When reading this painting you will discover key ideas to understanding Aboriginality or the Aboriginal way of seeing, what you may call spirituality. It is a vertical slice through the universe or country – sky, water and the earth above and below the surface.
All of which speaks to a deeper and more prevailing problem of western storytelling. What’s missing in Stateless, and what’s missing in so much of our discourse around immigration, is a discussion of those true events inspiring our current global crisis…
Conversations that ask difficult questions about the good in terms of ethics and morality, personal and social wellbeing require reflective consideration over time.