‘Ghosts 1- 28’, 2024-25, acrylic and nylon on canvas,board and wood with hand
forged steel tacks, dimensions
variable.Photos: sydenham international
These paintings are informed by a period of
research at the State Library of Victoria and Public Records Office of Victoria that house the archives of Yallourn; a coal town invented and managed by the Victorian State
Electricity Commission. Yallourn was built to house the
workers of the government’s coal mine and power station
complex and much of my newly immigrated family lived
and worked there in the 1930s. The town was subsequently
demolished when the mine was privatised and expanded
in the 1980s. In addition to the archives, I collected stories from my grandmother, who was born in Yallourn, that resulted in locating my great uncle’s biography detailing
his experience of working in Yallourn that informed my
approach. This work was shown as part of ‘Coaltown’, a solo exhibition at sydenham international, Sydney 2025 and funded by the Australia Council for the Arts.
