Sarah Contos uses diverse materials and methods of making to weave together a tapestry of images and forms linked to her enduring interest in how art history, film, fashion, and popular culture inform our collective memories. For Contos, making art involves equal experiences of recognition and mystery where the porous fibers and surfaces of images and objects become animated, capturing histories, ideas, and emotions.
'MoTH-eRR' expresses the complexities and contradictions inherent in the human condition through the organ of the womb, exemplifying its duality as both a nourishing, life-growing space and an abject, uncanny void. Inspired by German expressionist cinema, Contos’s video uses distinctive stylistic features, including unconventional compositions and dark themes, suggesting feelings of inner turmoil and childbirth as a speculative experience. Generative software manipulates and loops imagery together to create a hallucinogenic narrative that unfolds across three chapters depicting the fictional life cycle of a human-hybrid moth.
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Curated by Karen Hall
Touring Venue
Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery, WA
9 October – 12 December 2026
Contemporary Art Tasmania, North Hobart, TAS
12 April – 17 May 2025
Acknowledgements
Sarah Contos: MoTH-eRR' is a UNSW Galleries touring exhibition. The installation was first presented at UNSW Galleries in 2024 as part of the exhibition, 'Sarah Contos: Eye Lash Horizon'. This project has been supported by the UNSW Galleries New Contemporaries Fund and has been assisted by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its arts funding and advisory body.
Image
Sarah Contos, MoTH-eRR, installation view 2023-24. Three-channel digital video, colour, stereo, 13.23 minutes. Courtesy Sarah Contos and STATION Naarm/Melbourne and Gadigal/Sydney. Photograph: Jacquie Manning