Conversation with artist Karla Dickens on trauma and making

‘I do it because I have to work’: a conversation with Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens, on the occasion of her 30-year survey exhibition.

How do you bookend and frame time? Faced with pulling together a survey of 30 years of making, Lismore-based, Wiradjuri artist Karla Dickens says the most straightforward path is by ‘embracing the shadows’.

‘I know many shadows. It is through my knowledge of these shadows that I have gained freedom, finding the courage to walk with – and through – them,’ Dickens says.

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Gina Fairley is ArtsHub's National Visual Arts Editor. For a decade she worked as a freelance writer and curator across Southeast Asia and was previously the Regional Contributing Editor for Hong Kong based magazines Asian Art News and World Sculpture News. Prior to writing she worked as an arts manager in America and Australia for 14 years, including the regional gallery, biennale and commercial sectors. She is based in Mittagong, regional NSW. Twitter: @ginafairley Instagram: fairleygina