É Vero! É Vero! É Vero! (2024)
In 1612, Italian artist Agostino Tassi was convicted of raping Italian Baroque painter, Artemisia Gentileschi. Despite a guilty verdict, the grueling seven month trial included Gentileschi being subjected to a sibille (a torture device/lie detector made of metal and rope that tightens around the fingers); she was forced to prove her innocence. Gentileschi uttered the words “É Vero! É Vero! É Vero!” (“It’s True! It’s True! It’s True!”). Tassi was convicted; however, the verdict was later annulled and he was free by 1613. This story is alarmingly familiar. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Frontline (2024)
This series is a response to the ever-growing frustration at the stubbornly high rates of male violence against women in Australia. In Drey's role as a frontline social worker, she is faced with the real-life victims and perpetrators associated with these statistics. The 2024 media coverage of male violence has been unprecedented due to the increasing number of domestic homicides. Drey often bears witness to how the public, media, police and criminal justice systems scrutinise victim-survivors. Drey invited frontline family violence workers to volunteer their portraits to stand in solidarity with victim-survivors and with each other. Their portraits are layered with photographs of Melbourne protests where thousands of people rallied, shouted, stomped their feet, marched in the rain and took a stand. Their defiant faces embody their collective rage, protest, compassion, fear, trauma and vicarious resilience.
Exhibited: Twined Introspection (2024) Pussy Willow Power Collective, No Vacancy Gallery, Melbourne VIC
My hands connect me with the world. They help me to communicate, sense and feel. To interact physically with people and objects around me. They are my tools to write and to use digital technology. They help me to demonstrate joy and to express my no. Media outlets habitually sensationalise violence, especially male violence against women. Stereotypes of ‘the good bloke’ and the woman who was ‘asking for it’ are rampant. These myths are deeply embedded in our conditioning; we all absorb these messages. I can feel it under my skin.
Exhibited: Twined Introspection (2024) Pussy Willow Power Collective, No Vacancy Gallery, Melbourne VIC