Solo Exhibition
CLAW Creative, Fitzroy
September 7–13, 2025
“Paradox,” by Melbourne experimental visual artist Zo Damage, examines the interplay of fear, trust, and hope through a collection of handcrafted analogue photographic works on paper. It offers an alternative view of the dynamic relationships between the body and mind, creativity, and everyday experience. The works invite viewers to consider these relationships as unfolding processes rather than fixed states. Through the deconstruction and reconstruction of photographic processes, Damage uses hand-processed analogue printmaking to test photography’s representational conventions and articulate a subjective encounter with the world. Several works in the exhibition have appeared previously in group exhibitions, including the Bowness Photography Prize Finalist Exhibition in 2023 and 2024. However, in “Paradox,” they are presented together for the first time in the form intended for this project. Across “Trust,” “Respite,” and “Possibilities,” Damage interweaves experimental hand-processed analogue printmaking, scale, and spatial installation to develop an interconnected account of lived experience.
Zo Damage, 2025, “Paradox” installation view, CLAW Creative, Fitzroy. (Left) untitled cubes, 2025, gelatin silver prints, cardboard and ink, 28.5cm x 28.5cm x 28.5cm (installation variable); (right) “Possibilities” (detail), 2023, gelatin silver prints and nails, 7M x 1.27M overall (installation variable), Bowness Photography Prize finalist, 2024. Photo courtesy CLAW Creative.
Zo Damage, 2025, “Paradox,” installation view, CLAW Creative, Fitzroy. “Respite,” 2022, gelatin silver prints and nails, 1.8M x 1.2M overall. Photo courtesy CLAW Creative
This project was made possible through the generous support of C.R. Kennedy & Company and Ilford Australia.
