Kellie O’Dempsey is bringing her intimate and immersive installation Wish to The Vault at Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery.
The official opening takes place on Friday 31 March at 5.30 pm and entry is free with no bookings required.
Wish is a smaller re-imagining of Kellie’s Wish You Were Here exhibition created in response to lockdown life during the pandemic.
It features collaged works on paper, projected animation and sound by Mick Dick.
Kellie is renowned for her site-generated installations that integrate projection, video, collage, architectural space, gestural line, performance and digital drawing.
She said she hoped Wish would offer viewers a moment of contemplation, particularly because the installation was deeply personal for her.
“Wish You Were Here was conceived in response to COVID and caring for my elderly father who recently passed away,” Kellie said,
“So, this will be a significant memorial to that experience of me caring for my dad over the last ten years.
“It’s almost like an altar piece and The Vault allows for that intimacy at this time thanks to the nature and size of the space”.
Kellie said that on a more universal level, the work addressed the unseen labour of women and the endurance of carers.
“You can’t know what’s going to happen when you’re caring for someone who is unwell and time becomes quite surreal,” she said.
“Time becomes unknowable and hard to grasp. The work itself uses video and sound to try to respond to that.”
Kellie has exhibited at a wide range of galleries both nationally and internationally and said she was looking forward to bringing her work to Bundaberg for the first time.
“I’m excited by the opportunity to exhibit contemporary art in spaces like these,” she said.
“I’ve spent a number of years working with emerging artists in regional Queensland specifically and I love offering new ways of experiencing work.
“It’s not just a framed picture on the wall.
“Hopefully it helps to expand people’s expectations of what contemporary art is and how it can contribute to regional culture.”
Wish
When: Friday 31 March
Time: 5.30 pm
Venue: Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery
Cost: Free
Find out more here.
