Yhonnie Scarce – Venice Biennale

Yhonnie Scarce has been selected to feature in Personal Structures: Time, Place, Existence, a collateral event of the 55th Venice Biennale. The exhibition is held at the Palazzo Bembo, Venice and runs concurrently with the Biennale (1 June - 24 November 2013). Curated by the Global Art Affairs Foundation, this exhibition will bring together an international combination of established and emerging artists with a common dedication to the concepts of time, place and existence.

Yhonnie Scarce’s work explores the oppressive conditions used to subjugate Australian Aboriginal people, and the ensuing effects of colonial rule on contemporary Aboriginal culture. Through research into her family’s experiences, Scarce’s glasswork engages with the issue of containment of Aboriginal people, including the forcible removal of these people from their land and the subsequent practice of eugenics. Scarce’s work incorporates her personal histories and research with artifacts from the past, hence highlighting the legacy of issues related to white settlement in dialogue with the present.

Recently in 2012 Scarce has held a residency and exhibited at the Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Museum, University of Virginia USA and participated in Aboriginal art symposiums at Seattle Art Museum and the Hood Museum, New Hampshire. In 2013 Scarce is exhibiting at the National Gallery of Victoria, Heartland at the Art Gallery South Australia, the Western Australia Indigenous Art Awards, and the Australian Experimental Art Foundation.

Yhonnie Scarce, Burial Ground 2012, 224 pieces blown glass, Collection Art Gallery South Australia