In memory of stars

Western cosmologists say bones are made from material traces of incredibly rare, calcium-rich  supernovas, the explosive death and afterlife of unique stars. Sourced from veterinary and scientific x-ray archives, the bones in these photographs belong to native animals injured or killed on Wadawurrung country and oceans off the coast of Australia. To see these bones and constellations that shone above  them, the process required a record of light frequencies so small that they pass through skin, and others  so vast their origins formed millions of light years away.

Whilst visually alluring, the x-rays reflect a deeper story of colonial impact. Close inspection reveals  lethal injuries from sources such as lawn mowers, vehicles and firearms. As a person of settler-colonial  heritage, Gebhardt seeks to foreground phenomena not visible to the human eye, as a way to reflect on histories and colonial violences that might be wilfully hidden or erased.

By revealing the luminosity of these once animated bones, the work suggests the entangled lines of  connection between cosmology, trauma & sentience of and beyond the human. Merged with elements  such as fire, smoke, stars and dust, the animals hover like hauntings, floating between deep time and  futurity.

A calling to lost futures.

Thank you to the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation and the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation for their generous time, knowledge sharing and consultation. Special thanks also to Dr Paola Balla. Grateful acknowledgement also extends to Kane Wilson and the CSIRO.