Doh shta la lucheh? : Where is the light?, explores the poetic motif of light through the indeterminate state of grief. The title is written with the phonetic sounds of Boianese, my family’s moribund dialect from rural southern Italy. The unwritten language, relying on repetition to persist, grows endangered with each generation. In processing the recent death of my precious grandmother, Aurelia (1926-2026), this playful phrase she once used in a childhood game, prompting us to point upwards, has now become nuanced.

Mourning is a non-linear, twisting and folding web; a condition tethered between a numbing absence and heavy permanence; an oscillating lens of both light and shadow. Aurelia’s childhood stories and hand embroidered textiles are reanimated through within a sculptural installation, developed with ongoing mentorship by Nick Hackett. Forged structures and raised copper shades re-member and dis-member anatomies of both domestic lighting and decommissioned playground armatures. The project reflects intimate dialogues to understand resilience and empowerment through the gestures of play and vulnerability.

Artist Bio:

Cristina Dawn is an emerging metal artist and founder of Uva Fragola based in Melbourne. She explores the poetic nuances of the indeterminacy of loss; drawing reference to the fallibilities of memory, along with the ongoing expiration of her family's moribund Italian dialect - Boianese. Histories both sentimental and playful, coalesce within material affordances of her handmade objects, contemporary jewellery and spatial installations. Cristina honours traditional techniques in reimagined ways, solidifying evanescent and intimate dialogues within tangible forms.

Cristina holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts with Honours (VCA), an Advanced Diploma in Jewellery and Object Design (Melbourne Polytechnic) and received the National Gallery of Victoria Women’s Association award. She is currently completing a Graduate Diploma in Psychology (University of Melbourne), works as a Jewellery Technician at Melbourne Polytechnic and participates in Craft Victoria's Fresh! Fellowship Program, 2026.