PAST THEIR FLESH is a collaboration between Natalie Scholtz and Curtis Taylor. Paintings, drawings, installation and photography will play with the shifting perspectives of First Nations versus 'introduced' bodies in contemporary Australia. In one of the first works to be produced for PAST THEIR FLESH - mother cuntry, the tension is uncomfortable to look at. There is anguish as the ground bleeds into the under belly of country. Woman, man, crocodile teeth, station horses, high heels, the multi-faceted contradictions of identity. The character is awkward, existing between worlds, trying to put on something that doesn't quite fit. It is this conversation between Scholtz and Taylor that is captured, dissected and interrogated in these works.'How do I exist in relation to you? This is my story, this is yours.'

Scholtz and Taylor's work brings us to a kind of body horror of colonised and racialised subjects. At the same time, the flesh is a nexus of ancestral lineages, relational processes, and resistant selves. Human and non-human bodies, objectified into 'mere flesh' by imposed hierarchies - merging, blurring, seeping. Jessyca Hutchens (Palyku), Art Historian and Curator. Natalie Scholtz extends a conversation with pluralistic identity, intersectionality and in-betweenness in Australia in a playful spar with Curtis Taylor's investigation of identity, language and cultural frameworks. Scholtz, as a painter, and Taylor's experience in videography, photography, installation and sculpture allows for an experimentation and crossover of skill between both artists. The two delve into their different cultures, backgrounds, pigments and disciplines in this dual exhibition PAST THEIR FLESH - identifying, interpreting and blending fluid intersectionality with strong cultural bonds. They explore the stratification of skin colour to the scaffoldings of segregation in Western Australia, where the artists share the experience of sitting in their own flesh. Natalie Scholtz is a visual artist who mixes charcoal, ink, acrylic, pastel, aerosol and oil on paper as well as canvas. These mediums are used to investigate her pluralistic identity, inherited culture and the experience of the in-between body in contemporary Australia. Scholtz works explore the conflicting aspects of being human, the ripple effects of colonialism in Australia and the schematics of (our) skin.

Curtis Taylor's practice spans sculptural installation, painting, and film. His work investigates narratives around identity, language, and cultural frameworks through the lens of ritual, performance, and traditional cultural practices. Taylor's work asserts narratives of cultural and personal identity, creating immersive spaces occupied by language and ritual that explore the edges of life and death.

Opening night: Friday 25 August from 6.30pm

Exhibition runs from Sat 26 August to Sat 9 September open Tue to Sat from 10 to 4pm