Curator

Ellie Ray

Artists

TASMANIAN ARTISTS:

TARA BADCOCK

ANITA DINEEN

ANNE MORRISON

CLAIRE NEEDHAM

ROSEMARY O’ROURKE

SHARYN WOODS

INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS:

SAMANTHA CLARK (SCOTLAND)

IRENE MURPHY (IRELAND)

Date: 01-May-2013 – 01-May-2015

Location: Devonport Regional Gallery

Curated by Devonport Regional Gallery’s Director Ellie Ray the exhibition reflects on how we make sense of our past and how we represent it in a way that is meaningful to our present. Ellie Ray observes that any representation of the past is by its very nature, a construct; interpretations of past events, people and places involve mediation on a range of issues including the meaning of the past in our present.

Eight female artists are presenting works that focus on an empathetic approach to the past – specifically female convicts transported to Van Diemen’s Land. Each artist delved into the stories and records of past female convicts – some focused on their namesake, while others looked more broadly at events that affected a number of female convicts. The resulting art works reflect varied responses – from the physical to the emotional, from presence to absence, from collective memory to personal memory – yet they all reside within an empathic space of a ‘felt presence’.

Felt presence is a Devonport Regional Gallery exhibition toured by Contemporary Art Tasmania. 

Devonport Regional Gallery is supported by the Devonport City Council and the Tasmanian State Government.