Liz Gridley: Still Bodies: Dialogues of Deathcare
Liz Gridley鈥檚 Still Bodies: Dialogues of Deathcare is a series of allegorical, figurative oil paintings that explore options in how we plan, provide, and advocate for ourselves and others at the approach of鈥攁nd after鈥攄eath.
Painted on arched aluminium panels that echo both the curvature of the sky and the silhouette of a grave marker, these works serve as contemporary memento mori, inviting open conversation about a topic still considered taboo in Western culture.
This is the first full body of work that channels Gridley's research into death and deathcare鈥攁 field she has come to view as one of the few culturally sanctioned spaces where raw human emotion is permitted. Over the past two years, she has immersed herself in the deathcare space鈥攍earning from industry leaders about rights, responsibilities, and new technologies shaping how we die and how we care for others through the process. This series responds to the silence and confusion that surrounds end-of-life care: What is necessary? What is optional? What choices are we denied through ignorance or avoidance?
Using the seductive aesthetics of the female nude, Gridley draws viewers into difficult territory. These bodies, painted in collaboration with Melbourne photographer Eliza Cottonwood and life models Pistolina, Ella and Emily, are not just romanticised symbols鈥攖hey represent a growing shift in the deathcare industry itself. As traditional, masculine-led funeral models give way to more compassionate, diverse and home or family-led practices, the labour of death is increasingly taken up by women and gender-diverse communities, mirroring pre-20th century traditions.
Yet these same bodies remain disproportionately vulnerable to violence in contemporary Australia. Still Bodies confronts that contradiction head-on: the beauty of these figures cannot soften the fact that death is often unjust, hidden, or forced upon the young and vulnerable. Advocacy in death care cannot remain confined to the elderly or terminally ill. Death is as relevant to all as birth, and it demands the same attention, clarity, and choice.
Using her beautiful muses as bait, Gridley challenges viewers to link visual iconography with bodily reality. These works ask: What are your plans? What are your rights? What conversations still need to happen? And how can we begin to normalise these conversations?
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Liz Gridley鈥檚 Still Bodies: Dialogues of Deathcare is a series of allegorical, figurative oil paintings that explore options in how we plan, provide, and advocate for ourselves and others at the approach of鈥攁nd after鈥攄eath.
Painted on arched aluminium panels that echo both the curvature of the sky and the silhouette of a grave marker, these works serve as contemporary memento mori, inviting open conversation about a topic still considered taboo in Western culture.
This is the first full body of work that channels Gridley's research into death and deathcare鈥攁 field she has come to view as one of the few culturally sanctioned spaces where raw human emotion is permitted. Over the past two years, she has immersed herself in the deathcare space鈥攍earning from industry leaders about rights, responsibilities, and new technologies shaping how we die and how we care for others through the process. This series responds to the silence and confusion that surrounds end-of-life care: What is necessary? What is optional? What choices are we denied through ignorance or avoidance?
Using the seductive aesthetics of the female nude, Gridley draws viewers into difficult territory. These bodies, painted in collaboration with Melbourne photographer Eliza Cottonwood and life models Pistolina, Ella and Emily, are not just romanticised symbols鈥攖hey represent a growing shift in the deathcare industry itself. As traditional, masculine-led funeral models give way to more compassionate, diverse and home or family-led practices, the labour of death is increasingly taken up by women and gender-diverse communities, mirroring pre-20th century traditions.
Yet these same bodies remain disproportionately vulnerable to violence in contemporary Australia. Still Bodies confronts that contradiction head-on: the beauty of these figures cannot soften the fact that death is often unjust, hidden, or forced upon the young and vulnerable. Advocacy in death care cannot remain confined to the elderly or terminally ill. Death is as relevant to all as birth, and it demands the same attention, clarity, and choice.
Using her beautiful muses as bait, Gridley challenges viewers to link visual iconography with bodily reality. These works ask: What are your plans? What are your rights? What conversations still need to happen? And how can we begin to normalise these conversations?
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