Site-responsive, collaborative works that transform public spaces into places of connection, story, and belonging

Those Before

2025- Bellingen COmmunity performance installation
A meditation on ancestry | Mask-making, procession, and storytelling
Seven community members created ancestral spirit masks from paper mache through therapeutic workshops, working with mentors on embodiment and movement. The project culminated in a community procession led by The Bellingen Singers, inspired by the sacred procession traditions of my formative years spent in Southern Italy and Spain. Audiences moved through town encountering stories of ancestry: migration and adaptation, colonial erasure of Indigenous heritage, language and cultural transmission across generations. The journey concluded with a Welcome to Country by Gumbaynggirr elder Micklo Jarrett and dancers activating a phoenix sculpture symbolising rebirth and remembrance.

The Belonging Tour

2024 | Bellingen | Community performance installation
The Belonging Tour reimagined Bellingen’s streets as a living gallery of human stories. Led by The Bellingen Singers, audiences journeyed through town discovering community members stationed in unexpected locations, each sharing intimate stories of belonging through speech, song, dance, and visual art. Local residents became living artworks, sharing experiences of migration, gender identity, cultural heritage, disability, and connection to Country. The work transformed familiar streets into sites of vulnerability and revelation, creating space for diverse voices to be heard and witnessed.
Collaboration: Costume design by Amanda Fairbanks |Movement Co-ordination by Tehani | The Bellingen Singers | Community storytellers

LOOM

Live storytelling | Bellingen | Ongoing
LOOM is a live storytelling initiative where community members share true, personal narratives on stage. Working collaboratively with Olivia Bernardini, Anna Dowd, and Persia Wildwood as story producers, we support storytellers through an intensive development process, helping them craft 8-10 minute spoken stories that reveal transformative moments from their lives. The work is collaborative and relational, requiring deep listening, trust-building, and careful attention to vulnerability and cultural safety. Stories are told without notes or scripts, creating unrepeatable moments of human connection.

Fire and Water

2023-2024 | Gumbaynggirr Country & Zafferana Etnea, Sicily
A transnational project connecting two communities across hemispheres through their relationships with elemental forces. On Gumbaynggirr Country, participants explored connections to local waterways, creating artworks conveying the impact of flooding and the peace of water. These canvases travelled to Zafferana Etnea in Sicily, where, as volcanic ash fell from Mount Etna, the community created companion pieces exploring life with the volcano. Through guided artistic reflection, storytelling workshops, and collaborative poetry, both communities articulated a shared understanding: belonging is not about comfort but about embracing a place entirely, with respect and resilience.

Murga Madre

2018 | Frankston Arts Centre | Six-month multi-artform project
Argentinian-inspired carnival street art combining dance, drumming, theatre, costume, and community choir. The six-month collaborative project, co-led with Salvatore Rossano, engaged community across multiple artforms, culminating in performance at Ventana Festival. The project was successful enough that Murga Madre continues to operate today, demonstrating the sustainability of well-supported community arts initiatives