THEA JONES





To my mother’s grandmother’s mother

Exhibited on Boonwurrung country
Victorian College of the Arts, Southbank VIC
Master of Fine Art Graduate Exhibition

February 2026


To my mother’s grandmother’s mother,
Who was engaged to one of Kelly’s bushrangers until he was shot by cops

Or so the story goes

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.

WORKS:

I copied my mother’s handwriting, 2025
Graphite
Dimensions variable

Granddaughter of a wheat farmer, 2025
Wheat grains
Dimensions variable

Wagga Blanket (for Eliza), 2025
Calico, cotton thread, washing line wire, scrap fabrics collected by my mother, including: my great Grandmother’s apron, a childhood toy made for my mother by her great Aunty, my great Grandmother’s loungeroom and bedroom curtains, my Grandmother’s apron, a childhood ‘Hobbytex’ craft project made by my mother and her sister, an apron pocket cross-stitched by my Grandmother, fabric from a skirt made for my sister by my Aunty, silk from a pair of boxer shorts made for my father by my mother, fabric from Florence purchased by my mother, silk from an ordination chasuble made for my father by my Aunty, silk from a dressing gown made for me by my mother.
175 x 175cm

Roseleigh (to my mother), 2026
Single channel HD audio video
Duration 6:51 min





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.