Return to Sender is a powerful new large-scale wall assemblage by Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens. In a show of pride and defiance, the installation presents reworked postcards depicting racist imagery from the turn of last century overlaid with contemporary representations of First Nations people.
You might have spotted Dickens’ work at the Art Gallery of NSW for Nirin: 22nd Biennale of Sydney. The Lismore based, Sydney born, mixed-media artist has made waves in the art world for her large-scale works that repurpose found items and expose the tribulations of colonisation.
In Dickens’ typical style the work incorporates domestic detritus from rusted corrugated iron to unhoused front fences and decapitated letter boxes. Acknowledging the persistence of racial and sexual violence in contemporary life, Return to Sender is a call for resistance.
Return to Sender is showing for free from January 6-30, 2022, at Carriageworks, Eveleigh’s former railway workshop turned multi-arts and events precinct.
