“The Places We Call Home” ignites the feeling of discovering a family photo album. It is filled with unseen, treasured memories of people and places, captured through the eyes of a loved one. 

The project brings together work of Alessandra, Amy, Cass, Intwari, Jana, Jeyne, Sarah and Tugba, emerging photographers from a range of different backgrounds but each with strong, personal and familial connections to the Western Sydney region. The final collection of works, installed at Merrylands Stocklands Mall comes at a time of rapid and significant development of Greater Western Sydney and in particular the Merrylands area.

For myself the return to “Stockies” (Stocklands Mall Merrylands) as an artist is so significant as it was the home of my first ever retail part-time job. Shopping centres in Western Sydney play a vital role for locals, serving as social spaces that offer anonymity and independence to those coming of age. Additionally, they serve as gathering places and provide a welcomed air-conditioned respite from the harsh concrete-reflected-heat that is a well known trait of Summer in the suburbs.

Given these multifaceted roles that shopping centres play in the lives of locals, it’s fitting that this exhibition, showcasing the works of emerging creatives, storytellers, residents, and image-makers, is being presented in this very mall. By choosing a non-traditional gallery space within the heart of our community, the project embraces the essence of inclusivity and accessibility, making image-making a part of everyday life.

This collection of images capture the moments in between, looking both in and out of a fly-screen frame. Making us a welcomed guest on the other side of the table at the weekly family lunch gathering.

Powerlines act as sightlines directing our attention across setting suburban skies and postcodes. The sacred and suburban manifest one into the other, as treasured fabric is draped over Hill Hoists, and framed against terracotta brick backgrounds.

We learn that just as our idea of the homegrown can be grounding, it can also represent the uplifting and weight of carrying these roots, to and from, place to place. Home is embedded in the images of people, places and objects, and these visual reminders are safety-pinned to us by loving hands to keep close and safe. These intergenerational gestures performed by our ancestor’s hands demonstrate a lifetime of care.

This collection of treasured images create momentary portals for the everyday passer-by, to think of home in its many shapes and forms, and be transported, even for just a split second.