Pacified
2005; printed 2016
Medium
lightjet photograph
Measurements
69.9 × 100.0 cm (image) 93.6 × 123.9 cm (sheet)
Credit Line
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne
Purchased, Victorian Foundation for Living Australian Artists, 2016
© Estate of Destiny Deacon/ Licensed by Copyright Agency, Australia
Gallery location
Gallery 3
Ground Level, NGV Australia
About this work
Destiny Deacon was an internationally acclaimed artist known for her nuanced and provocative work. Over three decades, she challenged viewers with deceptively simple images that blend comedy with tragedy, surrealism with documentary, and melancholy with mania. In Pacified, ethnographic photography of the nineteenth century is evoked through the black-and-white image of a broken dolly, set against a textile backdrop featuring rigid gridlines. The melancholic expression of the doll – which Deacon uses to comment on the representation of First Nations peoples in popular media – suggests this environment is suffocating, bringing upon both psychological and physical torture.
Artwork Details
Place/s of Execution
Melbourne, Victoria
Edition
ed. 3/15
Inscription
inscribed in fibre-tipped pen l.l.: Pacified 2005
inscribed in fibre-tipped pen l.r.: Destiny 3 _ / 15
Accession Number
2016.619
Department
First Nations Australia