THEA JONES

To my mother’s grandmother’s mother: Unravelling settler-colonial nostalgia through maternal inheritances.

Through an exploration of inherited matrilineal handcrafting practices and family folklore, this project investigates the construction of femininity in the rural context of so-called Australia. I consider the role of nostalgia in the construction of settler-colonial narratives, and question how a critically reflective approach might contribute to the unsettling or unravelling of restorative nostalgia.

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2026
She let her body sway with the movement of the train

Interrogating the role of nostalgia in popularising craft-based practises, and the return to the artisanal as a growing (upper) middle class mode of homemaking, this exhibition delves into the intersections of class, queerness, rural upbringing, and the construction of white settler femininity in so-called Australia.

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2021
A treasured private notebook

A treasured private notebook is a poetic and humorous account of two artists exploring the ways we process and absorb—whether consciously or not—the behaviours passed down to us, and how we grapple with these formative parts of ourselves.

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2019
Everything Spring

Everything spring is not about spring, although it is about the seasons, and the weather, and the environment around you. It is about the blurring of the seasons in an overheating world, with the underbelly of capitalism supporting environmental destruction.

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2017
nul

Grappling with thoughts on home, nostalgia and place, and not getting anywhere. Accompanied by text by my mother.

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2017
Jane's Salvation (Paterson's Curse)

Jane’s salvation and Paterson’s curse are both colloquial names for Echium plantagineum, an invasive species introduced to Australia in the 1800’s. It’s said that the seeds were introduced by Jane Paterson in an attempt to beautify her garden near Albury, NSW. The weed has now infested much of the countryside throughout southeastern Australia. It can be recognised by its vividly coloured flowers appearing as a carpet of purple across the paddocks.

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2017
I live and work on the unceded sovereign lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung people. I acknowledge the waterways, country and skies, and offer my respects to elders and communities that have sustained creativity, care for country and resistance for more than 65,000 years.