Some Kind of Coyote
Helen Gory Galerie,
25 St Edmonds Road,
Prahran, Vic
(Until September 6)

When walking into the Helen Gory Galerie, it is immediately apparent that the current exhibition draws heavily on Mexican folklore and festivities.

A mock skeleton hangs from the gallery wall, and the colours and talismans represented in Jacqui Stockdale’s paintings blatantly reference Mexico’s well-known Day of the Dead festival.

Stockdale has been travelling widely as part of her arts practice, gaining inspiration from countries and the people inhabiting them. A residency in Mexico in 2007 inspired the current show, and highlights Stockdale’s ability to immerse herself in the cultures and traditions outside of her Australian home.

The Day of the Dead festival has its origins in the indigenous people of Mexico, including the Aztecs and Mayans. Today, families gather to celebrate and remember the deaths of ancestors through the building of private altars, the telling of stories, the laying sown of trinkets and ‘spiritual’ foods. The underlying belief behind these rituals is that during the Day of the Dead the departed souls can communicate with the living. Colourful costumes and masks are donned by family members to celebrate the connection between the living and the dead. Unlike our Western cultures, death in Mexico is not seen as a definitive end.

Jacqui Stockdale’s paintings bring together costumes, masks and strangely juxtaposed dolls and animals. The show is quite remarkable in its ability to stir up both a delightful wonder, and a sense of unease. The latter could be a sign of our general Western inability to ‘celebrate’ death.

It’s as if Stockdale has breathed life into the strange figures that inhabit her works. You could almost swear that they move as you walk around the gallery space. The large scale of the works adds to this illusory animation; while the rich colours, combined with the traditional costumes and Mexican relics, are quite dazzling.

Some Kind of Coyote continues Stockdale’s fascination with the rituals of different cultures. She remains an artist who gains inspiration from lands far and wide, and who in the process inspires audiences to think beyond their own cultural backgrounds.

www.helengory.com

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

Title
Comment	smaller | bigger
Name
Email
Website
Write the displayed characters
Subscribe via email (Registered users only) I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.
	Add Comment