HIDDEN Rookwood Sculptures

The End of the Line reflects on the history of the No.1 Receiving Station at Rookwood Cemetery. The hand clasps with their symbolic imagery act as a connection to the earth and this location. By holding and releasing the clay, we leave our mark on this world as we pass through.

Barker College is located on Dharug Guringai Land in northern Sydney, NSW.

Teachers: Ellen Macdonald, Tim Ryan & Bernie Huang.

Students: Emily Afonso, Cameron Barnett, Heidi Bartlett, Sofie Barwell, Sierra Brataniec-Charlton, Stella Chenu, Alex Chung, David Cornwell, Noah Garin, Seraphina Herwono, Kevin Li, Shawn Liang, Susanah Mead, Dani Mu, Mia Nocom, Hannah Oliver, Charlie Rajadhyaksha, Maya Sofarelli, Anika Stanbury, Caitlin Stoodley, Anneliese The, Sebastien The, Peihe Xu, Tessia Xu and Year 9 Visual Arts classes.

In The Night Garden is a collection of 30 large ceramic bowls, and deals with themes of purity, innocence and the life cycle. The pieces are glazed with a variety of pastel colours and quality Japanese Tissue Transfers paper to emphasize the softness of human nature and fragility of life. Each bowl is carefully carved with unique organic patterns to complement the environment. In the Night Garden is a functional collection of works that aims to return to nature what nature gave to us. The bowls will be frequently replenished with fresh water for the local birds and wildlife to drink. Amity College is located on Tharawal Country in western Sydney, NSW.

Teacher: Nadia Maljkovic

Students: Alesha Abbasi, Rehana Ali, Safiya Alnimer, Amal Asri, Maya Dhahir, Serene El Masri, Hajar El Safadi, Safiye Kocabicak, Serene Koussan, Romesa Rana, Frraj Zahara

Markers explores my ancestral connections to ideologies surrounding family, freemasonry, navigation, grief and the afterlife. These sculptures directly reference sandstones shards they transport me to a time when I was a child and my father worked in a sandstone quarry north of Sydney. My father would often bring home scrap sandstone and I would help move the pieces around the family yard whilst he worked on a landscaping project. By binding invisible lines to these ideas and memories my sculptures honour my instinctual connection to rock as a marker. Taryn Raffan has Irish and Scottish ancestry, and currently lives on Yuggera Land in Brisbane, QLD.

In this sculptural work, we have explored the profound connection between our homes, families, and the invisible threads that bind us throughout our journey from birth to death. Comprising of a collection of small ceramic houses, this installation embodies the essence of these interconnected narratives. Each miniature dwelling serves as a vessel for stories and destinies, intricately crafted to symbolize the unique paths we tread. From birth to death, we are on a quest for connection and meaning. This installation invites you to contemplate the red thread of destiny that connects us all, leading us to the keys of freedom, happiness, and a life enriched by the beauty of our shared human experience.

Cabramatta High School is located on Cabrogal Dharug Land in western Sydney NSW.

Teachers: Belinda Kyprianou, Sandra Van Dyk, Bethaney Waters, Tan Nguyen

Students: Shaniya Bryce, Alen William Samaan Daabool, Lucia Dao, Andy Ho, Raisha Kalim, Mary Kelleher, Victoria Kennedy, Jacob Lam, Katie Lam, Quynh Le, Kim Ly, Tommy Ly, Quynh Nhu Mai, Lakena Mao, Lauren Martin, Justin Ngov, Danny Nguyen, Serina Nguyen, Thi Yen Lan Nguyen, Tymongkorl Pech, Justin Pham, Norma Piaggio, Cheynel San-Ream, Jullyya Sao, Sophie Tabuso, Daniel Tran, Annie Trinh, Angelina Truong, Xiao Long Yee, Diana Yousif, David Jalal Dawood Asman, Tran Duc Huy Bui, Yadda Marie Chio , Malinda Deng, Jayden Do, Daisy Duong, Khanh An Duong, William Heng, Lok Hin Ip, Summer Kendall, Joisephine Laione, Lily Le, Martin Luu, Anna Mai, Davina Mel, Jillianne Mesa, Andraws Mikho, Orsola Mittiga, Justin Nguyen, Jenny Nguyen, Linda Scott, Ashur Tammo, Pich Pisey Tem, Alicia Tran, Tommy Tran, Tamiya Tran, Tara Tran, Trong Nghia Tran, Bianca Vo Pham

Gustava’s Kiss pays homage to my Austrian ancestors and muses. The Art Nouveau work of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt has inspired my own sculptural contemplation of the mystical union of spiritual and erotic love, the connection of life and the universe and the osmosis of nature; where the garden is internalised and absorbed into the abstracted figures of two lovers. In this totemic symbol of belonging, organic and rectilinear forms symbolise the feminine and masculine. Anatomy and ornament become one, reminding us that love and loss can give us a timeless connection to nature and the universe.

Lisa Hölzl has Austrian ancestory and lives on Gadigal Land in Sydney, NSW.

All the little deaths she was forced to experience:
the death of love, of worth, of meaning.

Sometimes I wonder who I could have been with a
good enough upbringing–someone else, that is for sure.

When I talk about small deaths, I mean the death of selves in the aftermath of neglect and trauma.

I create to excavate and touch her face.
I create to integrate and put her back in place.

It is a ritual, a gestural reenactment, a womb memorial;
the lovechild of profound sadness and shame, crying,
because she needs to be seen not buried.

Stevie Fieldsend has New Zealand, Samoan and Chinese ancestory. She lives on Gadigal Land in Sydney, NSW.

Kefen - Nothing but a few pieces of cloth is a site-specific and kinetic artwork that draws inspiration from the ritualistic burial traditions of the Islamic faith. In Islam, you take nothing to your grave except the few pieces of cloth your body is wrapped in, called the Kefen. Bodies of the deceased are washed and shrouded in 5 pieces of cloth for different parts of the body, with specific dimensions and layering rules. My artwork recreates this experience as a reminder of life after death, and its lightness of materials represents the heavenly realm where our loved ones rest.

Leyla Oz thanks Ayşegül, Hasan and Karan for their support with this project.

Leyla Oz is Turkish, Muslim woman who lives on Gadigal Land in Sydney, NSW.

Australia is a haunted landscape in many ways. Since the European invasion, the ecosystem has lost nearly 50 percent of its forests and 38 species of its endemic flora. These ‘ghost species’ are recorded as extinct, yet remain in a spectral sense in archives and data sets. My ceramic installation, Ghosts of lost species gather at the shrine, is based on research into extinct native flowering plants, with a particular focus on orchids (four species are declared extinct and 51 critically endangered). It is structured as a kind of shrine to commemorate the loss of these plants and contemplate the form their ghosts could take. Benita Laylim has Anglo-Chinese ancestory and lives on Gadigal land in Sydney, NSW.

Seed of the mighty oak tree the acorn, though it can fit in the palm of your hand, holds so much potential. Carved into stones they symbolise strength, honour, longevity and steadfastness, a testament to those who have been asleep for so long. Acorns collected and transformed into plaster doubles, their collective magnifying the strength that they symbolise. In the sight of the unwise they seem to die sits from branches, secured by ribbon, ghostly spectators charged to watch over the visitors of Rookwood.

Caitlin Bowe thanks Arts South Australia for their support of this project.

Caitlin Bowe has Irish and British ancestroy, she lives on Kaurna Land in Adeliade, S.A.

This installation reflects on the transformation of objects in time. It is a rescue chandelier, found binned in Parramatta CBD. Once an object of luxury and glamour, it has been subjected to the elements, weathering its previous shiny glory with rust. However, the remnant crystal pieces still reflect light, rainbows of colour, and a feeling of hope. Plants grow throughout its framework as nature continues the life cycle. The addition of translucent porcelain faces – spirit orbs – represent the souls that we remember, like my ancestral family buried at Rookwood cemetery.

Diane Turner has Latvian ancestry and currently lives on Dharug Land in western Sydney, NSW.

On the night of 29th October 2022, a crowd crush occurred during Halloween festivities in the Itaewon neighbourhood of Seoul. There were 159 people who lost their lives, two were Australian. I am commemorating the lives that were lost, most of whom were young. This work is very personal for me as I was there in Itaewon at the time. I have written the names of all the people killed on found memorial stones, these have been wrapped in white (the colour of mourning in Korea) silk ribbons and hung from trees to express the ephemerality of life and respect and remembrance for the lives lost.

Hyun Hee Lee thanks Robert Bennetts for his assistance installing this work.

Hyun Hee Lee is represented by Artereal Gallery.

Hyun-Hee Lee was born in South Korea to Buddhist Parents, and now lives Gadigal Land in Sydney, NSW.

Protogi speculates on future changes of state within and through bodies and their resting places. Extrapolating from historical forms of sarcophagi, Protogi synthesises the effects of our stretched, uneven modes of embodiment in the 21st century, to imagine future vessels wherein decay, stasis and transformation occur upon death. Utilising ancient and contemporary processes, these materials reflect technologies whose function is activated by a key component: the body. Furthermore, they dig into how, through speculative adaptations, these bodies might degrade and be entombed in the near future and how these methods might be observed.

Corey Black thanks Central Foundry, Pioneer Plating and Swift Electroplaters.

Corey Black lives on Gadigal Land in the inner west of Sydney, NSW.

The central motif of matjam (Flying Fox) celebrates connection to place and community. As a Muruwarri artist, I weave sculptural bats using ancient techniques passed down from Elders, emphasising that Culture persists. Weaving practice is a deeply personal expression of my connection to Culture, place, and identity. Dharawal and Dharug Country is home to tens of thousands of Grey-headed Flying Foxes. Human activities and urban sprawl have displaced them from their natural habitats. At dusk they fill the sky, screeching as they pass over the rooftops. As the sun rises, the colony settles into the suburban gum trees to rest.

Virginia Keft was supported by Cumberland City Council in running a HIDDEN 2023 community workshop at the Granville Centre.

Virginia Keft is a Muruwari woman, who currently lives on Dharawal Gadigal Land in Sydney, NSW.

My great grandfather owned large parts of the nearby suburb of Lidcombe. He was known as an eccentric tyrant and had around 20 children, most of whom have left the area. This pot acknowledges the presence of my ancestors in the cemetery as well as drawing upon an unusual photograph of my family members standing around decorated carcasses of meat in the back of their Lidcombe butcher shop, a shop that is still extant.

Glenn Barkley is represented by Sullivan+Strumpf.

Glenn Barkley has Irish ancestry, he lives on Gadigal Land in Sydney, NSW.

One door closes, another opens. Exits and entrances emerged from a recent visit to Rookwood for a funeral. I observed the gravediggers use a screen door covered in astroturf to cover the grave, both before and after the casket was lowered. Whilst the premise of the work came from a death, this work is very much about life. A range of organic and non-organic materials are given another life cycle. The result is a monument to life, an amalgamation of memory and experiences within the resin and marble, allowing the moss to cling on for dear life.

Harry Copas lives on Gadigal Land in Sydney, NSW.

In Chinese numerology, 99 signifies eternity. When my grandfather became terminally ill, my family sought solace in studying Buddhist beliefs. This installation features 99 intricate sigils floating along white mesh, imitating souls passing through to the afterlife in an underworld river. The fluid symbols are distorted renditions of the 8 auspicious signs in Buddhism morphed with other symbols in my personal lexicon. This work chronicles learning and reconnecting with spirituality, as death can both divide and bring people together. This work was created collaboratively with my father.

Celine Cheung thanks Parramatta Artists’ Studios Open Residency for their support in developing this project.

Celine Cheung has Hong Kong-Chinese and Australian ancestory, she lives on Dharug Land in western Sydney, NSW.

The importance of the Tongan Ta’ovala is derived from its specific creation process, as the connection to land regenerates the Ta’ovala’s sacred status. Each glass swatch is a sculptural abstraction of the traditional Ta'ovala. As I created the work, I started to understand the parallels with my work and the practice of my ancestors. The fragile materiality of the glass parallels the sacredness of the Ta’ovala. Through the process of this work, I have created a stronger connection to my ancestors and my culture translating sacred cultural practices in my work, for a post- colonial context.

Emily Greenwood was supported by Cumberland City Council in running a HIDDEN 2023 community workshop at the Granville Centre.

Emily Greenwood identifies as mixed Tongan and also recognises their Eurocentric and Wiradjuri ancestry. They currently live on Wangal Land in the inner west of Sydney, NSW.

Fijian graves are decorated to commemorate those lost. Every time you visit a family member’s grave, there is an expectation that you bring decorative fabrics with you, to decorate their grave. This work looks to replicate this practice, using fabrics of loved ones lost in our own family. Working together with others in community workshops, this work features fabrics ranging from flannel to doilies, loud bula print to tablecloth material, all coming together to form a collaborative commemorative installation.

Karlina Mitchell and Lee Mitchell were supported by Cumberland City Council with a HIDDEN 2023 community workshop at the Granville Centre.

Karlina Mitchell was born in Nausori Fiji and her vanua is from Vunivaivai Village, Nausori. Karlina Mitchell and Lee Mitchell live on Dharug and Gundungurra Land in the Blue Mountains, NSW.

Our installation focuses on our transition from birth to death with memories made Yesterday, experiences of Today and hopes and dreams for Tomorrow. The iconic flowering shrub called ‘Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow’ symbolizes our life cycle – purple fading to lilac and then to white across the 3 totems. Purple signifies independence, creativity and ambition. Lilac is youthfulness and courtship and white is peacefulness, death and sadness. As we wander through the passages of our lives, we are invisibly connected to each other. We are not alone on our paths.

Caroline Wright, Mandie Robertson, Sarah Robertson, Bridget Willis are represented by Crackpot Studio and Gallery.

Crackpot Studios is a collaboration of artists – Caroline Wright, Mandie Robertson, Sarah Robertson, Bridget Willis – with varied ancestry: Namibian, Scottish and Irish; who now live on Gayamaygal Land in the northern beaches of Sydney, NSW.

Slow response explores the material conditions of the remnant bushland and the heritage brickwork within the Rookwood grounds. The work playfully mimics the existing low brick walls in the cemetery through a series of handmade bricks formed on site. The work’s provisionality makes wry reference to Sydney’s brickworks, architecture, and Minimalist and Land Art traditions, while being critical of any romantic turn towards these traditions. Slow response is an experiment in making that articulates circumstance, social relations, and materials which are implicated in the vernacular of place.

Cole Cochran was born in Aotearoa, New Zealand, and now lives on Gadigal Land in Sydney, NSW.

Visiting my grandparents in Nishitokorozawa and eating around their kotasu (dining table) is a cherished time for bonding, nourishment and unwinding. My grandmother's love transpires through her cooking. When we are apart, I must rely on connection through memory and the hope that I will see her again. The taste and smell of these dishes fade over time, to be revitalised when I am sitting in her presence again. Efforts to cherish these times together become overcrowded with the lingering fear of the unknown.

Kumiko Delaney has a Japanese mother, and father of Irish descent. She lives on Gadigal Land in Sydney, NSW.

Remains to be Seen suggests the cyclic passage of time through birth, mortality and the impact of heritable human-nature relationships. Installed near Rookwood’s Hawthorne Avenue, my site-specific sculptural ‘avenue’ of pelvises, complete with arching botanical embellishments, implies interwoven epigenetic exterior influences shaping our biological bodies and identities. Symbolically, pelvises reference fertility, inheritance, growth and renewal, while avenues are emblematic of pathways, journeys, resilience and guidance. By installing this fragile and unprotected work on disproportionately large anthropogenic concrete blocks, my intention is to evoke introspection regarding the delicate balance and tension between humanity, nature, spirituality and human intervention.

Clare Nicholson was born in England, and now lives on Gadigal Land in the inner west of Sydney, NSW.

Sinililled silmadele (Blue Flowers For Eyes) is an ephemeral cenotaph placed in dialogue with the Estonian Niche Walls at Rookwood. Comprised of salvaged bricks and plantings of endemic flora, the monument references a memorial in Ehmja, Estonia for my grandfather’s brothers who died in 1946 fighting as Metsavennad (Forest Brothers). While their bodies are lost - their legacies remain firmly embedded in the land. The garden honours these sacrifices made by resistance fighters who rally against the interconnected and rhizomatic struggles for sovereignty, self-determination and decolonisation.

Lachlan Bell has Estonian ancestry and lives on Wallumedegal Land in the north west of Sydney,NSW.

Intersections was created by students to acknowledge Refugee Week. An oversized patchwork blanket was made and embellished by students using hand stitching, applique, beading and embroidery techniques and based on the book ‘My Two Blankets’ by Irena Kobold. This blanket represents a visual intersection of lives, experiences, and cultures where different stories and memories come together. Through the process of creating the work, students engaged with the themes of empathy, understanding, and community building and serves as a meditative reminder to the often perilous journey that refugees undertake to seek safety and the many stories prematurely halted in the search for freedom.

Ashfield Public School is located on Gadigal Wangal Land in the inner west of Sydney, NSW.

Teachers: Karen Manning & Jane Bennett.

We have been weavers for millennia. Like birds, we weave our homes, and our lives from the materials we find around us. Our nests are ephemeral, only existing for as long as they are tended until they return back to the earth, ready to be remade anew.

Northmead Creative and Performing Arts High School is located on Dharug Country in western Sydney, NSW.

Teacher: Katherine Penny.

Students: Year 10 Visual Arts classes

I regard the process of taking rubbings (or frottage) from the decorative elements of gravestones as a method of recording a language of mourning. These decorations and symbols speak for both the deceased and their loved ones. Rather than using paper, I have captured cross-cultural details on cloth that has been interred in soil, then overdyed with plant matter from the Rookwood site. The cloth reflects the haptic relationships and intimate associations we often have with fabric. Here, the cloth is draped, secured by, or wrapped around stones like those used for nearby graves.

Sylvia Griffin thanks Rookwood General Cemtery’s Stonemasons of for loaning pieces from their Stonemasons Yard for this work.

Sylvia Griffin is of Hungarian Jewish descent, and lives on Wangal Land in the inner west of Sydney, NSW.

Network Infinity explores the interconnected and tangled root systems that exists in the world, literally under the forested area of Rookwood and the social networks around us. The installation features an infinity void of mycelium root systems that etched inside the illusion. Mycelium draws and shares nutrients from the earth’s ecology around it while interconnecting the majority of the world’s plant life. Network Infinity invites the audience to consider their positionality in the world whether it be through their ancestry, their placement in the natural and social world.

Entangled is a collaboration of artists who live across WoiWodi, Dharawal, Gadigal, Gayamaygal and Garigal Lands, in and around Sydney, NSW.

Fallen is a recreation of a moment in time. A mere twig, fallen from a tree, having served its purpose, gathering energy for the tree, providing a perch for a bird, nectar for pollinators. Though it has separated from its body, its beauty lives on, its place in the world remains though it has shifted. Much like the memories of a loved one, when shared amongst those that remember them, becoming almost larger than life.

Kealey Bacic lives on Dharug Land in north western Sydney, NSW.

Where does the soul reside? In his book ‘The Five Senses’, the philosopher Michel Serres suggested the site of the soul is the skin because it is there we meet the world. We are because we feel. We can carry on without sight or hearing or taste or smell, but it is impossible to exist without touch. This tactile sculpture was influenced by Serres' philosophy, and by the ‘Lady and the Unicorn’ tapestries whose subject is the senses. It has no eyes, ears, nose or mouth, only integument, and it is clothed in a cape made from a product of that integument – hair.

Jane Theau thanks Nick Stranks for his assistance with casting.

Jane Theau lives on Cammeraygal Land in the north shore of Sydney, NSW.

The Chest of Silence: Tart’s Tea Party in The Garden of Celestial City, is like an altar, and also like a coffin around which all family members might gather. The still life tarts displayed on top, are reflections on my childhood and upbringing, imbued with a sentimental emotional value that unites with the current residents, Mei Quong Tart and his family, in the Rookwood Sleeping City. It is a quiet, but very potent and colourful way of suggesting thoughts about community, about how people come together and share life. Sensitive and sensual at the same time, this work is about sharing, friendship, family and neighbourhood.

Jayanto Tan is represented by Art Atrium Gallery.

Jayanto Tan was born in North Sumatra to a Sumatran Christian mother and China Taoist father. He now lives on Gadigal Wangal Land in the inner west of Sydney, NSW.

Network Infinity explores the interconnected and tangled root systems that exists in the world, literally under the forested area of Rookwood and the social networks around us. The installation features an infinity void of mycelium root systems that etched inside the illusion. Mycelium draws and shares nutrients from the earth’s ecology around it while interconnecting the majority of the world’s plant life. Network Infinity invites the audience to consider their positionality in the world whether it be through their ancestry, their placement in the natural and social world.

NC Qin is represented by Art Atrium Gallery.

NC Qin has Chinese Australian ancestry, and lives on Gadigal Land in Sydney, NSW.