Commissioned by the Gallery of Modern Art and Queensland Art Gallery, Destiny Deacon’s installation of photographs, video and sculpture ‘Going Strait’ weaves together Deacon’s Erub/Mer (Torres Strait Islands) ancestors and scenes from her contemporary family life. In an interview with Julie Ewington Deacon discusses her Torres Strait Islander heritage, strongly manifest in her work, “when I shut my eyes and think of Erub I think of the beach and the sea. I can smell it and hear it. … I grew up in houses where it was always on for young and old – food, drink, laughs, fights, music and politics”. The people depicted in the video element of the exhibition are likely to be Deacon’s ancestors, relatives, or even great grandparents. In contrast, Deacon’s colour photographs and film projection depict scenes from her contemporary family life; friends, neighbours and relatives gather together in lively activity.
Deacon is an artist, performer and political activist who has exhibited her photographs, videos and installations in numerous solo and group exhibitions, nationally and internationally, since 1990.
‘Going Strait’ will be on at Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery from 3 – 19 May 2012.