Bone Drift: Chimeric Conversations is an exhibition exploring fluid (dis)ability identities, and strange and unexpected relations between materials, objects, bodies and people. It is the culmination of a collaboration between artist and researcher Helen Pynor and creative producer Lizzie Crouch at the intersection of art, medical science, disability theory and lived experience.
The exhibition features artefacts from a workshop series in which participants got hands-on with the materiality of real bone and the rituals involved in bone china object making, and created a series of personal objects using metal, wax, embroidery and bone china.
Featuring Pynor’s installation Habitation (2021), Bone Drift: Chimeric Conversations generates dialogue about porous boundaries and expanded ways to understand our evolving (dis)abled personal identities, now and into the future.
Image credit Masimba Sasa
Lizzie Crouch is a Creative Producer who specialises in bringing together people with diverse expertise, backgrounds and lived experiences to create innovative, inclusive spaces. She specialises in working at the intersection of arts, science and technology. Lizzie’s current research focuses on advancing creative production and socially inclusive processes for art-science programs. She is also exploring the role of creative producing in fostering inclusive experiences as a PhD candidate at UNSW, Sydney. Lizzie has held numerous roles, including Senior Coordinator of Engagement for SensiLab, Monash University, and produced major art-science seasons for the Science Gallery network. Her work has been recognized by the World Health Organization and featured in publications like New Scientist.
Helen Pynor is an interdisciplinary artist and researcher whose practice explores philosophical and experiential questions such as the life-death boundary, organ transplantation, and prosthetics. She works with living and ‘semi-living’ materials, including cells, organs, and biomolecules such as DNA, and has used her own surgically excised bone in recent projects. Pynor’s work spans installation, sculpture, photography, video, and performance. She frequently collaborates with scientists, undertaking residencies in institutions like The Max Planck Institute, Germany. Her works have been exhibited globally, including at ZKM, Science Gallery Dublin, and ISEA. Pynor has earned an Honorary Mention at Prix Ars Electronica and national awards in Australia.