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In Formalities, Thea Anamara Perkins presents a new series of four paintings that revisit The Station – a significant site in Mparntwe (Alice Springs) and within Thea’s personal and cultural context. Painted entirely from memory, her shift towards abstraction is subtle but deliberate. Distilling her subjects into these fragments, her landscapes are shaped by memory and emotion, instinct acting as her guide. Beyond formal representation, her series speaks to the way places are internalised and reimagined over time.
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The Station, once an institutionalised space for Aboriginal children and families, carries complex weight. Rather than illustrating its histories directly, Perkins meditates on the residual presence of the site - its textures, light, and emotional resonance. These paintings are less about formal representation and more about atmosphere: the way land holds memory, the echo of structures long gone, and the shifting line between history and personal inheritance.
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Formalities is both a continuation and evolution of Perkins' practice. It reflects a deepening trust in the painterly language of gesture, form, and colour, as ways of conveying Indigenous experience and cultural legacy. These new works expand the conversation around place and identity, the power of abstraction to hold memory.
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