2019 Working with the Dead

In 2019 Gabrielle Bates ritually walked to Australian locations once occupied by her settler forebears, lands belonging to the Gadigal, Cammeraigal and Burramatta people. The ritual involved borrowing a stone from each of the sites and casting it in a mix of wheat flour, water, and real estate advertising paper. Simple faces of ancestors were carved into the casts, which were then placed on sticks and installed in AIRSpace Projects and Chrissie Cotter Gallery.

Photos by Jodie Barker and Gabrielle Bates.