Precarious Imbalance

Mei Wah Williams
Precarious Imbalance

Video installation projected into white plastic laundry basket tilted on the side, mirror, child's chair
46 x 58 x 90 cm, duration: 18 Minutes
$500

Precarious Imbalance is a multimedia installation involving a combination of video, performance, projection and sculpture made from found materials associated with the domestic. The work reflects the constant balancing act of domestic work that is disproportionately carried by women, past and present. Highlighting the invisible labour of mothers that quietly keep systems going and prop up society.
Mei Wah’s work takes place between the home and the studio, shaped by her dual role as both a mother and artist. Reflecting her experience of caring for her daughter as a single parent, she draws creative potential from everyday domestic life. Informed by circus and physical theatre, Mei Wah uses balance in both the arrangement of objects and physical movement to express the tension, physicality and precarity inherent in her area of research. She has developed a metaphorical language through which to process the complexities of family separation as well as the psychological and emotional layers of family life.
Play is a key methodology in her work. Drawing upon her daughter’s innate developmental creativity, Mei Wah uses their shared experiences of play and imagination as a catalyst for artistic exploration and a means of opening new possibilities within the making process.
Through these interconnected approaches, Mei Wah brings attention to systems that perpetuate gendered power imbalances, contributing to ecological harm and social issues such as violence against women.

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Artworks currently on exhibition can be collected from the gallery at 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne VIC 3000 once the exhibition has concluded. Collection is available during gallery hours: Tuesday to Friday, 12–7pm, and Saturday, 12–4pm.

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