Manufactured Underwater

My body is a swimming pool
a pebble with a heartbeat slips in
da-donk, da-donk, da-donk, da-donk, da-donk, da-donk, da-donk, da-donk, da-da donk
a muffled jellyfish echo through
the water they dream
as though awake

‘Manufactured Underwater’ by Briony Galligan is a series of drawing works that spirals between children’s toys and ideas of gestation. The work uses hand drawn graphics that reference the gyroscope and spinning top, as well as the spirograph and basic geometry sets; tools that children often use to learn, draw and navigate the unknown. This is combined with personal texts and ideas from queer theory about the potential and excess of gestation to move towards a spinning and ambiguous watery creatureliness of early childhood.

The exhibition is on display at Laneway Gallery, an outdoor exhibition space at Woods Street Arts Space in Laverton, Saturday 3 December to Tuesday 28 February 2022.

A selection of works will also be on display at the Altona Civic Centre, Altona.