Dying to Talk: Life In Death

Palliative Care Australia’s inaugural national art competition and exhibition, Life in Death, will be a vibrant and creative exhibition that celebrates life as well as the role death plays in shaping it. You’ll find an array of different artwork mediums that Australians have created – painting, drawing, photography, ceramics, jewellery and sculpture – in dealing with loss, grief or coming to terms with their own illness.

All Australian residents are invited to create an artwork for the Life in Death exhibition in Canberra. If the artwork is shortlisted during the judging process, it will be chosen to exhibit at M16 Artspace in Canberra between Thursday, 29 September 2016 and Sunday, 9 October 2016.

View entries here.

"Metamorphosis:
She got sick before Christmas, right around the time the Christmas beetles would have been starting their metamorphosis deep below the ground. The beetles started to emerge, her birthday passed, Christmas passed, then so did she. After that, the beetles just disappeared. Every year, the luminous beady-eyed creatures will emerge from the earth around the same time, and disappear as quietly as they came, a reminder that the cycle of life will continue as usual, even if you feel as though you can't bear it, without their laugh, their smile."