Sydney Exhibition

Shelley Watters

Opens Wednesday 21 June, 6 – 8pm
Runs 22 June – 2 July 2023

Shelley Watters presents a solo show of contemporary photography and sculpture about light. In this new work Shelley displays voyeuristic photography of Marrickville at night to invite reflection on how light bridges public and private spaces.

Shelley (she/her) is an activist and emerging interdisciplinary artist who resides and creates on the unceded lands of the Gadigal-Wangal people. Through an array of mediums including paint, photography, sculpture, sound, video, and participant-activated media, Watters delves into the dominant social and environmental issues of our time.

Surveillance, Watters’ first solo exhibition, features photographic and sculptural work begun during the Sydney lockdown of 2021. She observed an inequity across the city and fractured communities. Amid a broken society, Watters was lured by radiating light from windows and doors, illuminating the street and forging an intimate connection with the lives imagined within. In these mysterious works Watters creates space for the viewer to wonder about the experiences of these inhabitants. This kaleidoscope of colour invites reflection on how light bridges public and private spaces.

Watters’ work probes themes of temporality, feminism, power, and community in global and personal contexts. Her work has been included in group shows at Articulate Project Space, George Paton Gallery, and yearly in the annual group show Herland at the Women’s Library, Newtown.

Watters balances her responsibilities as a mother of three with part-time study since 2015 and will graduate from Sydney College of the Arts with a Bachelor of Visual Arts in 2024. She is also an accomplished senior arts worker with 20 years’ experience in marketing and communications – most recently at the Sydney Opera House.