Stephanie De Biasi, The Flesh of Things, 2025, paper, nylon, wire. Photo by Ryan Blair.

Curated by annette peterson

Paper Thin, Skin Deep brings together nine West Australian artists whose practices interrogate the material and metaphorical layers of skin through the lens of paper and sculpture. A study of surface, body and environment, the exhibition reflects on how the most delicate of materials can hold, record, and reveal human experience.

Drawing on diverse cultural perspectives, including those of First Nations artists, the exhibition presents newly created works from emerging, mid-career, and established practitioners. Through the process of folding, casting, stitching, and layering, paper becomes a substance that records pressure, time and gesture, while sculptural forms evoke the visceral qualities of skin as both a barrier and register of experience.

Addressing trauma, tenderness, memory, transformation and identity, the artworks challenge the notion that surface is merely skin-deep, instead highlighting material as a vessel with the ability to express vulnerability and psychic states. Cuts, creases, layers, and impressions echo the ways bodies hold histories, and how experience settles into form.

This exhibition invites reflection on how we inhabit bodies, materials, and memories, with paper and sculpture the messenger to convey unique approaches to embodiment.

participating artists

Emma Craig, Jo Darvall, Stephanie De Biasi, Sharyn Egan, Robyn Jean, Annette Peterson, Emily Rose, Nicole Steenhof, Sarah Thornton-Smith.