Lismore-based Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens presents her latest exhibition at Gosford Regional Gallery from June 22-August 11.
Karla Dickens: Embracing Shadows spans 30 years of practice.
Female identity and racial injustice are at the core of te exhibition, themes which are enduringly explored in Dickens’ reflections on Australian culture.
The exhibition brings together key bodies of work for the first time, including Hot Thing (1995), Sheila’s Downunder (2002), Black Madonna (2009), Workhorse (2015) and Bound (2016), as well as select works from the Dickensian Sideshow (2020-2021) and Return to Sende’ (2021) series.
Born in 1967 in Sydney, Karla Dickens is of Wiradjuri, Irish and German descent.
Through collage, painting, installation, photography, film and poetry, her work is a highly personal and political interrogation of Australian culture and history.
It has featured in major group exhibitions in Australia and internationally.
Dickens was one of nine artists selected to create a new commission for the Art Gallery of NSW’s major expansion project, Sydney Modern.
Her artwork is held in many public and private collections across Australia and around the world.
Embracing Shadows is a Campbelltown Arts Centre touring exhibition, originally presented as part of an expanded survey exhibition in association with Sydney WorldPride 2023 and curated by Emily Rolfe.
It is delivered at Gosford Regional Gallery in partnership with Campbelltown Arts Centre.
There will be a commissioned performance by Advanced Diploma students from NAISDA at the opening of the exhibition at 11am Saturday, June 22.
Guest Curator Monique Auricchio said the exhibition is a powerful installation that will resonate with many.