^{figuring ground}

ARTISTS

amy jane parker
archie barry
benjamin bannan
benjamin woods
briony galligan
charlie sofo
d harding
jazz money
jesse boyd-reid
kate bohunnis
léuli eshrāghi
mira oosterweghel
nathan beard
rafaella mcdonald
sj norman
spencer lai
william yang. 

Curated by abbra kotlarczyk
Texts by elijah money and jazz money.


OVERVIEW

    figuring ground brings the diverse experiences of LGBTQIA+ artists from across Australia to regional audiences in the Clarence Valley. This ambitious multi-form exhibition explores where and how we stand as queer, constituted beings on vibrant and unstable ground.
    In challenging and upending framings of the classical western convention of the figure/ground relationship, this exhibition presents nuanced insight into how contemporary LGBTQIA+ artists collapse and expand upon traditional self/world binaries. In casting a rich net of figure/ground relationships through diverse artforms including photography, sculpture, installation, video, painting, sound, poetry and live performance art, this exhibition invites audiences to witness a range of creative modes towards individual and collective practices of queer placemaking. Where LGBTQIA+ communities, and particularly artists, have been at the forefront of imagining other worlds and ways of being in light of various forms of oppression and discrimination, Figuring Ground aims to bolster this creative energy within a context of surmounting climatic, racial and social instability by asking the question: where and how do we stand?


    This project and the adjacent Re-Figuring Ground was developed through community consultation with queer and trans youth groups on Bundjalung, Gumbaynggirr and Yaegl Country in Grafton.


    This project is supported by the NSW Government through Create NSW. 

EVENTS

Exhibition Opening

Saturday July 1, 2023


Artist Talks

amy jane parker, mira oosterweghel & rafaella mcdonald with introduction by abbra kotlarczyk

Sunday July 2, 2023


Closing Event 

Saturday August 26, 2023
Performances by archie barry and  elijah money



CATALOGUE

figuring ground catalogue PDF with texts by abbra kotlarczyk, elijah money and jazz money 


ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Grafton Regional Gallery, the artists and curator would like to acknowledge the Bundjalung, Gumbaynggirr and Yaegl peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which this exhibition takes place. We honour First Nations’ cultures and their connections to land, sea and community, and pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging. 

Always was, always will be Aboriginal land. 

(left) Benjamin Bannan, Untitled (Shroud), detail, 2022
Linen dyed with Truvada (PrEP), polyester thread, 430 x 110cm
Courtesy of the artist

(right) Briony Galligan, Becoming vapour, detail, 2023
Blueberry, soy milk, bleach and dye on cotton shirts, polyester, linen thread, cotton, sequins, Baci wrappers, easter egg wrappers, New Year’s Eve decorations, dimensions variable (3 units)
Courtesy of the artist




(left) Benjamin Bannan, Untitled (Shroud), detail, 2022

(right) Briony Galligan, Becoming vapour, detail, 2023





(foreground) Mira Oosterweghel, Soiled suit, 2023
Sheep poo on glass panels, dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist

(background left) Benjamin Bannan, Untitled (Shroud), detail, 2022

(background right) Briony Galligan, Becoming vapour, detail, 2023



(foreground) Mira Oosterweghel, Soiled suit, detail, 2023
Sheep poo on glass panels, dimensions variable
Courtesy of the artist

(background left) Benjamin Bannan Untitled (Shroud), detail, 2022 

(background right) Briony Galligan, Becoming vapour, detail, 2023




Mira Oosterweghel, Soiled suit, detail, 2023


figuring ground exhibition installation, 2023




Nathan Beard, Bloom, 2023
Digital print on Ilford Galerie Pearl, plastic orchids, Light Siam Shimmer and Light Siam Aurore Boreale (AB) Swarovski Elements, Little Greene 'Thai Sapphire' paint produced in partnership with the National Trust for their 'Colours of England' campaign, 40 x 60cm
Courtesy of the artist, sweet pea and Aster + Asha Gallery




Spencer Lai, (L-R)
Navy (parallel bars), 2017
Synthetic felt, adhesive, 94 x 71.5cm
pink (flowers in vase) (after Vignes), 2018/1972
Synthetic felt, adhesive, 50 x 60cm
Private collections
Courtesy of the artist



Briony Galligan, (L-R)
butterfly kisses, 2023
Pencil, false eyelashes, Baci wrappers, 29 x 21cm
rain curtain, 2023
Pencil, Baci wrappers, 29 x 21cm
Courtesy of the artist


Benjamin Bannan, Whither Narcissus (AES+F, Cavé, Dalí, Lépicié, Poussin, Waterhouse), 2023
Carbon paper transfer on primed birch-ply, 29.7 x 252cm (3 units, made with the assistance of Beth Maslen
Courtesy of the artist



Jazz Money, Crush, 2021
Single Channel 4k, 3min 49sec, videography and editing by Jazz Money, audio by Gabriel Santos, commissioned for Textbook For Desire, 2021, Cement Fondu
Collection of Artbank Australia, courtesy of the artist and Artbank Australia




Benjamin Woods, Benthic Community Flutes Sketch 2 (Snapping and Sandy-ghost Shrimp, Swamp Scrub, Mussel), 2023
Field Recording, performance documentation, digital video, stereo audio, 14min 57sec, videography by Elena Betros-Lopez
Courtesy of the artist




Charlie Sofo, 33 Objects That Can Fit Through the Hole in My Pocket, 2013
Colour digital video, sound, 1min 29sec
Monash University Collection, courtesy of the artist and Monash University




figuring ground exhibition installation, 2023




(foreground) Kate Bohunnis, too soft, too opulent, 2021
Stainless steel, faux fur, faux pearls, rope, plastic beads, 297 x 130 x 90cm
Courtesy of the artist and STATION Gallery

(background) D Harding, Ten metres of couture silk stained with hematite, 2021-23
Satin silk, hematite, beefwood tannins, 1000 x 140cm
Collection of the artist and Milani Gallery



Kate Bohunis, too soft, too opulent, 2021




Mira Oosterweghel, Like a torrent spills the bed, 2020
HD video, 7min 26sec, videography by Ella Sowinska, performers Megan Payne & LG Connolly-Hiatt
Courtesy of the artist



(foreground, left) Briony Galligan, gaps, a speaking being, 2023
Pencil, oil pastel and watercolour on paper, Baci wrappers, photocopied text, paper
64 x 50cm

(foreground, right) Briony Galligan, slippery underfoot, 2023
Pencil, oil pastel and watercolour on paper, Baci wrappers, 64 x 50cm

(background) Jesse Boyd-Reid, Sister, Brother, 2023
C-type photographic prints, 254 x 180cm each (2 units)
Courtesy of the artist




Briony Galligan, gaps, a speaking being and slippery underfoot, detail, 2023



Jesse Boyd-Reid, Sister, Brother, 2023



figuring ground exhibition installation, 2023




Amy Jane Parker, Bore, 2023
Lead, glass, pearl, amber, dimensions variable 
Courtesy of the artist



Rafaella McDonald, ground obsessed and eternally falling, 2023
Alum, soda ash, vinegar, guar gum, xanthan gum, clay, egg, sodium carbonate, latex glue, magnesium sulfate, madder root, rice flour, soil, Clarence River water and silt, textile ink, raw canvas, keyring accessories, dimensions variable 
Courtesy of the artist


Rafaella McDonald, ground obsessed and eternally falling, detail, 2023



Léuli Eshrāghi, AOAULI (VILIATA), 2020-22
HD video, sound, 4min 41sec, filmed south of Mparntwe on Arrernte Country, commissioned by the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and generously
assisted by Stuart Miller, Alexandra Grisedale and Dane Brookes 
Courtesy of the artist


SJ Norman, Cicatrix (All that was taken, all that remains), 2019
Giclee prints, photographic documentation, 59.4 x 84.1cm each, photographic documentation of performance commissioned by Performance Space New York, 8 January 2019, photography by Ricardo Martinez Roa
Courtesy of the artist



William Yang, (L-R)
The morning after, 1976, gelatin silver print, 26.7 x 40.2cm
Joe, 1979, ink on gelatin silver photograph, 27 x 40.3cm
Distances, 1981, ink on gelatin silver photograph, 23.7 x 35.5cm
All artworks collection of Museum of Contemporary Art, courtesy of the artist, Art Atrium and Museum of Contemporary Art


Exhibition documentation by Kate Holmes, 2023