LAKE DOLLY

Christian Thompson

Sydney Opera House, Western Broadwalk // Antidote: A Festival of Ideas, Art & Action.

August 28 – September 7, 2017

Sharing its name with the creek of his grandfather’s upbringing, Lake Dolly is Christian Thompson’s auto-ethnographic exploration identity, gender and race. Showing at the free-to-the-public, outdoor event as part of Antidote: A Festival of Ideas, Art & Action, the 2017 photographic series employs the artist’s renowned focus on Anti-Portraiture and stunning Australian botanicals. Through the sourcing, creation and wearing of unique floral installation pieces which are reminiscent of the traditional headdresses worn by his Sephardic/Spanish Jewish relatives, Thompson’s mesmerising self-portraits pair his own Indigenous roots, the Western ideal of masculinity and the fragile beauty of the natural world. In this, he challenges modern-day stereotypes of Indigenous men and masculinity.