The Undesirable

Kelly Manning is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice investigates the impacts of trauma and the strategies we develop for survival. Working within the Anthropocenic times we find ourselves in, she explores how violence seeps into both bodies and environments, often becoming a quiet, naturalised presence. Through experimental printmaking and the reuse of waste, her work engages with environmental and societal crises at both macro and micro levels, while resonating personally through what she calls ‘survivalism.’ Manning’s collagraph produced while participating in the Edenhope Artist-in-Residency program serves as sketch for a wearable sculptural work designed to interrupt and activate discussion. One plate, made from stitched-together soymilk tetra-paks, explores themes of diaspora and nomadic life as metaphors for movement and change. The Undesirable, ridiculously constructed from domestic objects rendered useless in contexts of homelessness, becomes a playful and poetic catalyst for reflection and, potentially, for change.