Winangali, Carpark Project Space - Milani Gallery, 2026

WINANGALI (To hear, listen, know and remember) is an autobiographical exploration of self-knowledge, embodied experience and cultural reconnection through listening, remembering and rebuilding trust in one's own knowing.

Drawing on her experiences of religion, conversion disorder, dissociation and deconstruction from Christianity, Rachel Bywaters examines how religious and patriarchal ideals of holiness, purity and obedience shape relationships with the body, identity and selfhood, often suppressing emotional and bodily expression.

Extending beyond personal experience, Bywaters explores feminine knowledge, bodily autonomy and the relationship between women and the natural world, questioning how knowledge is valued, suppressed and reclaimed.

Grounded in her Gamilaroi heritage, she draws on cultural knowledge and women's traditional food systems as pathways to reconnect with Country and reclaim ways of knowing.

Rather than presenting a resolved journey of healing, WINANGALI reflects an ongoing process of questioning, remembering and reclaiming the authority to trust oneself, the body and Country.

Photo credit: Charmaine Lyons