Following Sydney-based artist HOSSEI’s creation of costumes that “heal,” in ESSSENSSSE, the tenacity of the human spirit is explored, corporeal human qualities are stripped away and what’s underneath is revealed.
The artist’s fascination with sand dollar sea creatures is on show here; their shape, features and how, in mediaeval times, sand dollars were believed to be a mermaid currency. A cast of sixteen sea creatures appear, as ESSSENSSSE transitions from dynamic and joyful performances into a large-scale, sensory installation that surrounds visitors with a playful, one-hundred-percent tactile landscape.
HOSSEI, ESSSENSSSE, 2023, dimensions variable. Performer: Lauren Booker. Photograph: Jacquie Manning. Courtesy the artist, Verge Gallery, Sydney and Bathurst Regional Art Gallery, New South Wales
Bathurst Regional Art Gallery
5 July to 7 September 2025
New South Wales
