Kent Morris illuminates Billilla lightboxes

Take a stroll through Billilla Gardens - 26 Halifax St Brighton - where you'll see three lightboxes displaying works by artist Kent Morris.

By reconstructing the built environment through a First Nations lens, Kent Morris reveals the continuing presence and patterns of Aboriginal history, culture and knowledge in the contemporary Australian landscape, despite ongoing colonial interventions in the physical and political environments.

As the final artist in out Billilla Lightboxes commission, Morris has produced three images documenting Brighton's historic mansion Billilla, reflecting on the site as Aboriginal land.

His photographs combine fragments of the building’s Art Nouveau architecture with Rainbow Lorikeets that visit the gardens, creating a subtle statement about the ongoing presence and necessity of the natural world in our urban environments.

The lorikeets’ large scale and frontal pose meet the viewers gaze and demand attention.

These works provoke thoughts about the rights of all living beings to live as they were born to, and their resilience to adapt to new environments.

The lightboxes will be on display until 12 December 2023. 

Image credit: Installation views, Kent Morris at Billilla Gardens. Photos: Mark Ashkanasy