Simpson Gallery – 5th Jul 2019 – 8th Sep 2019
Yhonnie Scarce’s work explores the modes of perceptions used as underlying weapons of colonial power to keep Aboriginal people submissive to the hierarchy of colonial rule. Through research into her family’s experiences, Scarce’s glass work engages with the wider issue of containment of Aboriginal people, including the forcible removal of these people from their land and consequent death.
Scarce was born in Woomera, South Australia, and belongs to the Kokatha and Nukunu peoples. She holds a Master of Fine Arts from Monash University. Scarce is one of the first contemporary Australian artists to explore the political and aesthetic power of glass, describing her work as ‘politically motivated and emotionally driven’. Her work incorporates her personal histories and research with artefacts from the past, hence attempting to highlight the legacy of issues related to white settlement in a dialogue with the present.
Image: Yhonnie Scarce, N00, N2359, N2351, N2402, 2014, blown glass, archival photographs, Bundoora Homestead Art Centre Collection.
