Atong Atem is an Ethiopian-born, South Sudanese artist and writer living in Naarm/Melbourne. Working primarily in photography and video, Atong explores migrant narratives and postcolonial practices in the African diaspora, and the relationships between public and private spaces, home and identity, through portraiture. Often featuring brilliantly coloured and patterned textiles and backdrops, her portraits draw on the history of studio photography in Africa. Atong has exhibited her work across Australia, including the National Gallery of Victoria, Monash University Museum of Art, Gertrude Contemporary, Australian Centre for Contemporary Art and internationally at Red Hook Labs in New York, Vogue Fashion Fair in Milan and Unseen Amsterdam.
Atong’s A Facet for Every Turn is a photographic self portrait sculpture that reflects an ancestral story of migration while interrogating the gaze, both historically and contemporarily.
