Jemima Wyman: Deep Surface

Teeming with dizzying colour and intricate pattern, Jemima Wyman’s practice is a visually and politically charged exploration of camouflage, collective organising, democracy and dissent. 

Wyman is best known for creating vivid, kaleidoscopic collages composed of imagery of masked activists, coloured smoke and other recurring visual motifs drawn from her extensive archive of found photographs documenting global protests. Through her work, she contends that patterns and masking function as agents of resistance, with the power to reclaim both visibility and anonymity in the face of government surveillance and civil unrest.

'Deep Surface' is the first career survey of the Los Angeles–based Australian artist and Palawa woman. Spanning three decades, it brings together drawing, painting, video, performance, sculpture, textiles and collage to trace Wyman’s evolving investigation of individual and collective identity, perception and experience. 

Drawing on feminist theory, protest culture and pataphysical logic, Wyman proposes camouflage as more than concealment: a way of seeing, bearing witness and imagining new political possibilities.

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Curated by Katherine Dionysius

When
21 January – 18 April 2027
Address
Cnr Oxford St & Greens Rd Paddington NSW 2021
Hours
Wed to Fri 10am–5pm; Sat to Sun 12–5pm
Phone
+61 2 8936 0888

Publication


Price: $70
Format: 290 x 230 mm, Hardback. cloth with deboss cover
Edition: 750 copies
ISBN: 978-0-6453076-4-1
208 pages

Designed by Evi-O.Studio and inspired by Jemima Wyman’s Propaganda textiles swatch books, Jemima Wyman: Deep Surface interweaves four critical essays with vivid patterned waterfall pages, creating an immersive and materially rich reading experience. Featuring works by Dr Hanna Rose Shell, Dr Chari Larsson and Katherine Dionysius, alongside an interview between Dr Yuval Etgar and the artist.

Acknowledgements
'Jemima Wyman: Deep Surface' is a QUT Galleries and Museums exhibition and presented at UNSW Galleries as part of Sydney Festival 2027.

This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body.

Jemima Wyman Logo Block 1

Exhibition Partner

Jemima Wyman Logo Block 2

Images
Banner: Jemima Wyman, Declassified 94 2024. Courtesy of the artist and Sullivan+Strumpf, Gadigal/Sydney and Naarm/Melbourne