Deanne Gilson is a proud Wadawurrung woman, living on her ancestral Country of Ballarat in Victoria.
Gilson’s practice looks at the objectification of Aboriginal women by the colonial gaze and how this continues to impact them today. Artworks explore, colonial disruption, loss of family, culture, language and traditional women’s business.
Creating contemporary paintings, ceramics, digital collages and large-scale public art installations, that put Wadawurrung women back into the picture. By documenting birthing and scar trees, exploring the vessel as a metaphor for the body, traditional stone circles and stone tool artefacts, Gilson assists in healing, disrupting and challenging the male and female gaze. Thus, highlighting and bringing back traditional mark making, alongside new contemporary ones, while linking this to the practice of women's ceremony. Re-shaping and forming her identity as a female Aboriginal artist, in a Country that challenged her existence.