Jillian Nalty

This work is part of Curatorial+Co.'s 2026 group exhibition, 'The Beast In Me'.

Of all the internal mechanisms that drive us, perhaps the most primordial is the beast. We expel the animal, the bodily, the base in favour of the intellect, yet it is the beast that holds what is most irreducibly human—impulses and desires that precede thought: love, rage, care, protection, connection. The very thing we suppress is also the thing that touches what is most vital.

Says Jillian Nalty of her work, "This latest body of work, created for 'The Beast in Me', draws on textures and forms found in flesh, skin, scales and feathers. Working across beeswax, polished aluminium, fabric and synthetic nails, I have created objects that suggest living bodies without depicting them directly. Co-produced through the labour of honey bees, 'Colony' uses beeswax and repeating forms to evoke an organism that feels both familiar and alien, while other works recall udders, scales, feathers and protective skins.

"I am interested in how form alone can trigger a visceral reaction. These forms feel recognisable yet resist clear identification, occupying a space between human, animal and object."