Biography

Destiny Deacon is a multidisciplinary Indigenous artist descended from the KuKu Yalanji and Erub/Mer peoples of Far North Queensland and the Torres Strait Islands respectively. At the intersection of art and activism, Deacon’s creative practice interrogates the chasm between the lived experience of Aboriginal communities and the representation of Aboriginality by white Australian society. Her visual language melds comedy and tragedy—incorporating dolls and Aboriginal kitsch in absurd and sometimes disturbing contexts—as a means of expressing Indigenous identity and satirising racist stereotypes. Often reflecting back the coloniser’s gaze, her photography undermines reductive notions of race, gender and sexuality.

Her works have been featured in several solo exhibitions, including DESTINY: the art of Destiny Deacon, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2020); Not Just Fun and Games, Roslyn Oxley9 Gallery, Sydney (2017); Doing Time.., Spare Room Gallery, R.M.I.T. University Gallery, Melbourne (2012); Clandestine, Destiny Deacon, Tandanya, National Aboriginal Cultural Insitute, Adelaide (2008) and Walk & don’t look blak, Museum of Contemporary Art, Sydney; Tokyo Photography Museum, Tokyo, Tjibaou Culture Center, New Caledonia (2004-5).

Deacon has also participated in numerous group exhibitions, including I didn't vote for this, 99% Gallery, Melbourne (2022); Know My Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now, National Gallery of Australia, Canberra (2020); Who's Afraid of Colour?, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne (2016); Episodes: Australian Photography Now, Dong Gang International Photo Festival, South Korea (2014); Whisper in My Mask, TarraWarra Biennial, Victoria (2014); Crossing Cultures: The Owen and Wagner Collection of Contemporary Aboriginal Australian Art, Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth (2012); Havana Biennial (2009, 1994); documenta 11, Kassel, Germany (2002); Yokohama Triennale (2001); Biennale of Sydney (2000); and Johannesburg Biennale (1995).

Her awards include Royal Photographic Society Centenary Medal (2022) and Red Ochre Award for Lifetime Achievement (2022). She received the inaugural Yalingwa Fellowship (2018) and was named Visual Artist of the Year by The Deadlys (2009).

She holds a BA in Political Science from the University of Melbourne (1979) and a Diploma of Education from La Trobe University (1981), which awarded her a Doctor of Education (honoris causa) in 2019.

Born in 1957 in Maryborough, Queensland of the Kuku (Far North Queensland) and the Erub/Mer (Torres Strait) peoples, Deacon lives and works in Naarm Melbourne.

SAF participation:
Sharjah Biennial 15 (2023)

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