A celebration of queer lives, art and excellence. YES is a colourful, validating multidisciplinary exhibition providing a window into the unique experiences of the LGBTQ+ community, whose experiences cannot be confined to a standardised box. On the eve of six years of marriage equality we tell our stories.

Adam Traves . Bowen Halkett . Easton Dunne . Evie Hilliar . Fergus Berney- Gibson . Jeni Mulvey . Joyce Cheng . Maya Mulvey- Santana . Patrick Krzywicki . Revi Tait . Rex Turnbull . Em Rose . Sam Gatsby Lim . Sam King . Will Thompson

Join us at aMBUSH Gallery Sydney (4a James Street, Waterloo) on Thursday 16 November from 6-9pm for opening night. YES will then be on show daily, 12noon until 4pm, until Sunday 19 November, with all works for sale.

Artist Statement:

This collection of works is a love letter to my younger self. The 2017 plebiscite for marriage equality was an emotional and divisive time. My parents and many family members voted against equality. It forced me to look long and hard at my family and lifted a heavy mirror up to our nation. Hearing family, strangers and celebrities discuss whether or not I deserve equal rights was a bitter pain to swallow.

These instant films are a personal document of my chosen family. Community, lovers, friends and milestones it's a celebration of queer joy and what it means to thrive, not just survive. Embroidered with gold thread and beaded, they're a constellation of equal parts sadness, uncertainty but also so much power and happiness. A sense of humor, kindness and art have been the tools that have empowered that younger self to turn slurs, hatred and bigotry into a life well lived in art and in community. An affirmation as much to myself as it is to community that we will overcome whatever adversity lies ahead.

Working with instant film they are an intimate invitation to lean in close to the images as if they were youth own. To look with nostalgia, pathos or sweetness as if these are your memories, your lovers, your family…