Once Was reflects on how we mourn more-than-human loss when what remains is only absence. Photographs of receding glaciers are paired with a series of death masks formed from earth, rock, and meltwater gathered at each site, cast from a mould of the artist’s own face. Evoking a memorial image before the invention of photography, the death mask becomes an object of grief and remembrance, an imprint of presence in the wake of disappearance.
Related events
Exhibition Openings: Rebecca Wickham + Anna Munster & Michele Barker:
Upcoming exhibitions
VIEW 2026:
Cass Li, Dylan Marriott, Elesa Stellios, Toni Tait, XinShuo Zhuo
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VIEW is our annual exhibition showcasing early-career artists at the forefront of an emerging generation of photo-media practitioners
Canberra Contemporary Photographic Prize 2026:
Various artists
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Exhibition and competition celebrating both emerging and established talents in photo media.
Halfway Seen Halfway Home (半窥半归) :
Guylieuzy (Ming Liew & Will Wang)
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A moving-image exhibition exploring Chinese–Australian hybrid identity shaped by migration, memory and cultural negotiation.