This body of work was inspired by the theatrical nature of Australian beach culture, as well as the preservation of Circassian dance and traditional dress, which is often presented on stage. By placing these performances in dialogue, the universal impulse towards cultural and national identification is questioned, recognised by Édouard Glissant as symptomatic of colonialism’s demand for “transparency.”

Underpinning the layering visible in the work, alongside experimentation with fragile and transparent painting supports such as silk, is Glissant’s proposal of striving for “opacity”—of a refusal of being fully known or categorised.