Dylan Mooney, Timeless Growth, 2023. Digital illustration with Yuwi ochre and ink, edition of 10 + 2 AP, 84.1 x 59.4cm. Courtesy: the artist and N.Smith Gallery, Sydney.

‘Pride is us holding these spaces for ourselves. We’re giving ourselves agency to tell our own stories.’⁠

In Dylan Mooney’s Still Thriving series, seven large-format portraits focus on love in queer communities, extending upon Mooney’s Queer, Blak, and Here series to include female, transgender, and non-binary members of the Indigenous community.

Subjects stand proudly and defiantly, gazing out at the viewer or towards each other in tender, shared moments. Identity, desire, and representation are brought together to promote discussions of art that include acknowledgment of works created by members of groups that have often been overlooked or under-represented in the broader art world, deftly illustrating issues affecting the queer community’s lived experience in ways that are poignant and very much of our moment.

Each portrait includes skin painted with ochre taken from Yuwi Country ‘representing connection to Country and love for each other.’

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