Dean Cross, Monuments (installation view), 2018 – ongoing indefinitely, 2020 iteration). Ngunnawal ochre & gold leaf, dimensions variable. Courtesy: the artist and 4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art. Photo: Kai Wasikowski.

Monuments is a site-responsive work by artist Dean Cross – an ongoing project since 2016, intended for exhibition every two years. Handfuls of white ochre – consisting Ngunnawal/Ngambri Country where the artist was born and raised and gathered on their property with permission from local elder and custodian of the land Aunty Matilda House – build a grid that spreads across the gallery floors. A number of the ‘monuments’ are interspersed with gold leaf.

With each handful representing one year of colonisation in Australia, Cross’ ‘monuments’ to strength, survival and custodianship challenge colonial concepts of ceramics, memorialisation and memory. “A Western statue is a depiction; my monuments are the real thing,” says Cross.

The gallery is open and adhering to social distancing measures.

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