Kyra Mancktelow. Photo: Russell Shakespeare
Kyra Mancktelow
PROJECT
Kyra Mancktelow interrogates how the First Nations and South Sea Islander communities to which she is connected are haunted by the legacies of colonialism. UNJUST is drawn from a larger body of work, Unconstitutional Love, in which Mancktelow reimagined various garments, including a family wedding dress, to reveal how Indigenous cultural rituals are erased by settler customs. UNJUST appears as hundreds of native wedding-bush flowers, which are found on the artist’s Country, Mulgumpin (Moreton Island). The work further honours Mancktelow’s family, whose experiences were controlled by colonial governance.
The acquisition of this artist’s work is supported by the Victorian Foundation for Living Australian Artists
ABOUT
Kyra Mancktelow’s work has been the subject of recent solo exhibitions at West Space, Naarm/Melbourne, and Outer Space Gallery and Redland Art Galler in Meanjin/Brisbane. She has participated in a number of group exhibitions, most recently at Craft Victoria, Naarm/Melbourne; Queensland Museum, Meanjin/Brisbane; and Tamworth Regional Gallery. Mancktelow won the 2021 Telstra Emerging Artist Award at The National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Art Awards, and a Special Commendation at the 2021 Churchie National Emerging Art Prize. Her work is held in several nationally significant collections, including Newcastle Art Gallery; Parliament House Art Collection, Canberra; the Museum of Brisbane; and the University of Queensland, among others. She has also produced public art works, most recently for Logan City Council, and is currently undertaking a PhD at Queensland College of Art.