In conversation: Hayley Millar Baker, Eternity the Butterfly

Join artist Hayley Millar Baker in conversation with Georgia Mokak, protagonist of Eternity the Butterfly, and commissioning curator, Hannah Presley, as part of our current exhibition, the veil.  

Central to the exhibition, Eternity the Butterfly reflects the transcendence narratives of Aboriginal peoples, grounded in their deep spiritual connections to ancestors and the colonial horrors they continue to endure. The third in Baker’s filmic series, the work embodies the cyclical view of life, death and rebirth central to Aboriginal philosophies. 

Led by Isabella Hone-Saunders, assistant curator of the veil, the panel will delve into the ideas and intention embedded in Hayley’s new work and discuss the creative process that bought them all together.  

Buxton Contemporary will be open from 11am with the talk commencing at 3pm. 

the veil
27 June 2025 – 1 November 2025

Offering a deep exploration into identity, memory and cultural resilience, the veil will journey into the realm of the spiritual, exposing otherworldly experiences that are central to our existence though often concealed. The exhibition features new commissions and recent university acquisitions across photography, film, weaving, fibre art, experimental printmaking and kinetic sculpture. 

About the participants

Hayley Millar Baker is a lens-based artist living and working in Naarm (Melbourne). Her work is deeply influenced by her Aboriginality, belonging to the Gunditjmara, Djabwurrung and Nira-Bulok Taungurung peoples through her maternal lineage, and Anglo-Indian and Luso-Brasileiro ancestry on her paternal side. This union of cultural influences shapes her perspective, grounding her practice in the exploration of Indigenous resilience and the empowerment of ancestral connection.   

Georgia Mokak is a Djugun person from Broome in the West Kimberley. They are grateful to have grown up on Ngunnawal and Ngambri Country, Larrakia Country and to be treading lightly on Wangal and Gadigal Country. Mokak’s area of interest and research is in First Nations led storytelling, collective practice, memory and care. 

Hannah Presley is a Marri Ngarr curator living on Taungurung Country. Presley is Senior Curator, Art Museums at University of Melbourne. Her practice focuses on the development of creative projects with Aboriginal artists, working closely with artists, learning about the techniques, history and community that inform their making to help guide her curatorial process. Presley draws on inspiration from her early roles working at Warumpi Arts, with Papunya Community, Iltja Ntjarra, Many Hands and other Central Australian Art Centres. As Exhibitions Officer at Araluen Galleries in Alice Springs, Presley had the privilege of coordinating a number of shows including the annual Desert Mob exhibition. Presley was Curator of Indigenous Art at National Gallery of Victoria, Curator of Primavera 2021 at Museum of Contemporary Art and inaugural Yalingwa Curator at Australian Centre for Contemporary Art, where she curated A Lightness of Spirit is the Measure of Happiness in 2018 and was Assistant Curator for Tracey Moffatt My Horizon at the 57th Venice Biennale.  

Isabella Hone-Saunders is a curator, arts worker and artist born on Kaurna Country (Adelaide), now living in Naarm (Melbourne). Their curatorial practice is concentrated on amplifying community and socially engaged practices, and supporting artists in taking creative risks by addressing representation within artistic communities and archives. The research projects Hone-Saunders has curated explore themes of habitat sharing, survival and extraction to consider the interplay between human, animal and ecological well-being. Formerly working as the Director of Seventh Gallery, Hone-Saunders has also held curatorial positions at the Australian Centre for the  Moving Image (ACMI) and at the Australian Centre for Contemporary Art (ACCA). Hone-Saunders has a Master of Art Curatorship from the University of Melbourne and is a current PhD candidate in Curatorial Practice at Monash University. Their PhD is focused on hope as a generative curatorial methodology to imagine collective  futures.  

Image credit: Hayley Millar Baker, film still from Eternity the Butterfly, 2025. Commissioned by University of Melbourne, supported by Creative Australia and Creative Victoria.