That Was Then
This is Ephemera Now

A 10 year old girl poses in a fluffy pink knitted jumper with matching ankle warmers. A tulle tutu completes the outfit. On the opposite page a boy stands, hands on his hips in a nautical-themed jumper adorned with brass buttons. On pages 12 and 15 of this ‘Easy Knits for Boys and Girls’ 1985 edition, they are right at home.

Born in the age of mechanical reproduction they lay discarded in op shops, under beds and in dust sprinkled boxes. Without the human gaze they become inactive.

Postage stamp multiples come in booklets of adhesive sheets. When the stamps are removed they leave behind a frame that becomes a waste product of an anachronistic form of communication.

In this exhibition Missy surgically removes characters from their ephemera and gives them a postage window to gaze through. Recontextualised in this way there’s an uneasiness about them that is contrasted against bright and hopeful colours.

Missy’s tactile and interactive work invites us to contemplate how technology informs the way we consume material in the digital age of reproduction. The new narratives created inside these collages are bold, graphic and curious.