The works in this exhibition are acts of ‘Meaningful Mischief’, humorous craftivisms which comment on women’s unrelenting, thankless and invisible labour. Statistically women perform the greater amount of home duties and Deborah Eddy is railing against it. The artist is drawing on her own lived and inherited domestic experience by making playful sculptural objects. Her performance work acknowledges that there is a high likelihood of winding up in an aged care facility after all the domestic drudgery is left behind. But there is still mischief to be made.
There are three parts to the exhibition; Non-functional kitchenalia, Non-functional quilts and a video in which Eddy performs. The sculptural objects are made from building materials, safety equipment, men’s work clothes and feminine fabrics such as tablecloths. A hi-vis palette draws attention to the subject matter while the materiality is clearly not what these objects would normally be made from. The video work, Staying Alive, speaks of the spark of life that is still within even at this late stage in life.
Deborah Eddy
