In the mythology that Petrina Hicks constructs and evokes through constant references to classical antiquity, we not only perceive the unravelling of the illusory nature of perfection, but also the poetic and political claim to a space in which animals and humans reconnect and recognize their mutual individuality as they observe each other. Who are these white ghostlike creatures, these winged messengers of the night, these small age-old dragons perching on a female fingertip? What secrets lie hidden inside the ancient vases? And who is the enigmatic Pandora holding them? The woman is a medium in the intimate con-fusion with other species, capable of exchanging silent kisses with a butterfly on the wing and respecting the spirit of the other creatures, recognizing the ability to feel emotions that is shared by all living beings.

Mythologies’ images reveal an instinctual and magical dimension, a reality beyond the boundaries of the visible, in which the promise of perfection that captures our attention in the Australian photographer’s seductive aesthetic cracks and overturns, leaving us disoriented.