A Kyogle photographer is bringing a deeply personal project home, with an exhibition and community letter-writing campaign designed to open up conversation about domestic and family violence in the Northern Rivers.
Jodie Harris, of 6 Acre Studios, will show her photographic series “Becalmed” as part of the exhibition “Salt: Bearing Witness” at the Roxy Gallery in Kyogle. The exhibition is timed to run through the United Nations’ 16 Days of Activism to end violence against women and children.
The series has been years in the making, and took its final shape once Ms Harris moved her work outdoors.
“I have been working on this series for a few years now. It has taken quite a few turns and been represented in different ways,” Ms Harris said. “It never felt quite right until I decided to take the work out of the studio and onto a salt lake.”
“There was never one moment, but as soon as I was out on the lake I knew this was where I could work with the greatest success and where the series would find its form,” she said.
The imagery of water, stillness and salt running through the series reflects Ms Harris’ own experience.
“This work is deeply personal. I draw heavily on my own journey through domestic violence and its associated sticking points,” she said. “We all carry our own version of trauma and know innately that you never quite recover; it is a version of ourselves that we must live with. Sometimes it is still, sometimes it is rough, sometimes quiet, sometimes comforting and often too much.”
Ms Harris said the project was never intended as art for its own sake.
“It was never about making art. It was about using my art form of photography to express an inner world that many of us can unfortunately relate to,” she said. “Earlier iterations of the series felt more trauma-focused and not aligned with what I was trying to express. This final body of work celebrates the strength of those who unwillingly take this journey.”
Although the exhibition will be housed at the Roxy Gallery, Ms Harris said a gallery was not originally where she pictured the work.
“It belongs in everyday spaces: the streets, GP waiting rooms, and on walls in homes where people can be stopped by it, engage with it, wonder what its about, read, be challenged and take the message onwards,” she said.
Ms Harris said she had once hoped to reach influential audiences to drive change, including contacting the United Nations directly. A selection of the series was shown at the Women Deliver 2026 Conference in Melbourne earlier this year. But she said the realisation came that her own community needed the work more.
“It didn’t take long though for me to realise that actually Kyogle, my town, this little regional community needed this much more,” she said.
Alongside the gallery show, Ms Harris has launched “Dear Survivor”, inviting community members to write letters, poems or even single words of support to survivors, known or unknown, for inclusion in the exhibition.
“Domestic violence is not an issue that exists in isolation. It was really important to me that the work involved community input and was not just about a community issue,” she said.
Ms Harris said the letters and photographs would be displayed together.
“My vision is for the whole gallery to read like a poem,” she said. “I will select submissions to sit on the wall between my photographic images that resonate with those words. There will also be a dedicated wall space for visitors to the gallery to continue adding their voices to the story.”
She is also exploring turning the submissions into a virtual archive once the exhibition closes.
Reading the letters as they come in has affected Ms Harris personally.
“I never anticipated the impact that reading the submissions would have on me. They are powerful and reflect the immense importance of storytelling for healing,” she said. “I am the artist, and also the audience, as this is my story as well. I am so glad I invited the community to share words of support, and I hope that they empower others to speak up.”
The exhibition has grown through partnerships with Kyogle Together, the Kyogle Anti-Violence Alliance (KAVA) and Kyogle Council.
“I developed very supportive relationships with KAVA, Kyogle Together, and some Councillors,” Ms Harris said. “KAVA has a history of running campaigns for the 16 Days of Activism, so it seemed like a natural partnership.”
In response to rising rates of domestic and family violence across the local government area, Ms Harris said she is working with Councillor McNamara to bring domestic violence survivor and advocate Simone O’Brien to Kyogle, and will address council at its August meeting seeking financial support for the initiative.
Ms Harris said she hoped anyone currently unsafe, or newly out of a violent situation, would leave the exhibition feeling less alone.
“I would like them to walk away feeling stronger and more empowered than when they walked in,” she said. “I want them to recognise their own strength and know that it’s a journey they don’t have to make alone.”
Information about support services will be available throughout the exhibition.
Ms Harris said she hoped the momentum around the project would continue beyond this year, and is already working on her next project, “Coming Home, Kyogle”, a portraiture collaboration with local writer Susanna Freymark.
“That they are not alone, even though it definitely feels that way a lot of the time,” Ms Harris said, of what she hopes visitors take from the exhibition.
Salt: Bearing Witness opens at the Roxy Gallery, upstairs at 131 Summerland Way, Kyogle, on Saturday, 14 November, and runs until Sunday, 3 January. The gallery is open Wednesday to Saturday, 10 am to 3 pm, and Sunday, 10 am to 1 pm. More information and details on how to submit to Dear Survivor are available at https://www.6acrestudios.com/
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