Delphine Byrne
My diverse approach to making reveals the uncomfortable realities of being a settler, woman and mother in contemporary Australia. In these works, I explore the unsolved disappearance of Juanita Nielsen, an heiress who disappeared in Sydney’s Kings Cross in 1975. Juanita was the face of Victoria Street’s anti-development protests where violent evictions of tenants were being enforced. A coronial inquest determined that Juanita had been murdered, and is widely believed she was killed by agents of developers.
Conceptual strategies are at the heart of my research-based practice. I work across video, ready made objects, collage, soundscapes, musical scoring and performance to conjure and channel the path of Juanita’s final steps and the traces of her disappearance. Using witchcraft as a lens I seek to locate negative energy attached to Juanita’s disappearance and transform it into healing resonances. More broadly the work is concerned with violence against women and the way gendered violence is made invisible.
Delphine Byrne, The deconstruction and reconstruction of the case of Juanita Nielsen, Plastic corflute reflective road signage, chain block, chains, shackles, spray paint, steel, clear acrylic, dimensions variable, video, 20min 46sec
Delphine Byrne, The deconstruction and reconstruction of the case of Juanita Nielsen, Plastic corflute reflective road signage, chain block, chains, shackles, spray paint, steel, clear acrylic, dimensions variable, video, 20min 46sec
Delphine Byrne, Find Juanita: Sigil Score, video performance with electric violin and theramin, 07.49min, 2023.
Delphine Byrne, The Ghost of Juanita Nielsen, Multichannel video on scaffolding pipe, digital collage on scarf and mirror installation: construction block with mirror, car side mirror, rearview mirror, and makeup mirror, dimensions variable, 2022. Art Documentation: Panisa Ongwat.
Delphine Byrne, The Ghost of Juanita Nielsen, selected frames from Google street view stop motion animation, 20min 46sec. 2022.
Delphine Byrne, Find Juanita, Reflective road signage collage, spray paint, steel frame, chain block, chains and shackles, 3m x 1.3m x1m, 2023. Art Documentation: Panisa Ongwat.
Delphine Byrne, Find Juanita: Sigil Score, Live performance installation: ‘Sigil Score,’ graphic score etched into clear perspex, electric violin and theramin, witches cloak: reflective and hi-vis material, dimensions variable, 2023. Art Documentation: Panisa Ongwat.
Delphine Byrne, Find Juanita: Sigil Score, graphic score etched into clear perspex,165cm x 145cm x 5mm, 2023. Art Documentation: Panisa Ongwat.
Faculty of Fine Arts and Music
University of Melbourne