Unfinished Business reveals the stories of 30 people with disability from Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Through their involvement in the project each participant draws much-needed attention to critical issues that impact on their lives. Each participant’s story is complex and intertwined with Australia’s political and social history, which has resulted in today’s high rates of disability in Aboriginal and Torres Strait communities.
The exhibition consists of thirty 3D lenticular backlit photographic portraits of the participants. The 3D lenticular process itself, intensifies the emotion felt by the audience. The desire to reach out and touch the image, invites the audience to transfer the physical desire into an emotional one, and to reach out emotionally to the humanity that entwines us all together. Aiming to reveal the unique essence of each person’s story, the images take a new visual realm by presenting these narratives in a more personal, in-depth way. The audience has the opportunity to hear the participants speak in their own words, which draws them closer, into the still, penetrating gaze of the participant’s faces forming a close emotional connection transcending the traditional audience-subject divide. We cannot argue when someone says, ” I feel”, – it is not our right. It is part of our own journey to learn empathy rather than compassion. Our own reaction, exposes us to ourselves, and our ability to listen when someone lays their naked soul in our path.
