Death Mask

Death Mask was commissioned by Naryyna Heritage Museum and the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery for the Dark MOFO 2017 visual arts program. The work explores lesser-known aspects of Tasmania's history through its focus on death mask collections held at the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, and in private collections. The installation challenges perceptions about the historic and contemporary relevance of the links between the between the pseudo science of phrenology and the practice of casting the heads of executed criminals to assess their character traits via the shape and size of their skulls. It featured coffin-like light box images of real death masks, a lecture-like audio track, dim lighting, a medical model of an exposed brain and historic items about phrenology to create a pseudo-serious environment that encourages reflection on how readily judgements about individuals can be based on appearance. Death Mask contributes to a field of contemporary art practice that uses site-specific installation to reveal alternative narratives about historic collections, houses and museums