Joan Ross

Born in Glasgow in 1961 and based in Sydney, Joan Ross works across drawing, painting, installation, sculpture and video. Her practice interrogates Australia’s colonial past, using wit, fluorescent high‑vis colours and digital layering to expose the violence, entitlement and absurdity embedded in colonial histories.

Ross frequently repurposes historic paintings, ethnographic imagery and colonial records, re‑animating them to highlight the ongoing impacts of dispossession, environmental damage and the exploitation of First Nations cultures.

Joan Ross, born Glasgow, Scotland 1961, I give you a mountain, 2018, Sydney, HD video animation; 6:30 min; Gift of Dr Pei-Yin Hsu, Pam McKee & Jennifer Hallett through the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation Collectors Club 2022, Art Gallery of South Australia, © Joan Ross.

In I give you a mountain (2018) Ross uses humour, sharp colour and digital manipulation to ask viewers to consider their own place within Australia’s colonial legacy.

This video animation begins inside the moss‑covered, waterlogged Leverian Museum in London, referencing a 1786 watercolour by British natural history painter Sarah Stone. Stone’s original works documented exotic animals, ethnographic artefacts and materials taken from the Pacific during James Cook’s voyages.

Ross repurposes this imagery to expose the histories of collection, categorisation and possession that underpinned colonial expansion. As the viewer moves through cabinets of curiosities, they encounter heads of colonial figures trapped in jars, reversing the gaze and unsettling the authority historically given to European collectors and explorers.

The animation shifts into a surreal Alpine landscape where one colonial man “offers” another a mountain, an absurd visual metaphor for the colonial belief in land as property to be exchanged. The work ends with the landscape dissolving, leaving only disembodied heads and a surveillance camera, hinting at contemporary systems of observation, power and control.

Colonial Histories and Power

Ross exposes the absurdity of European entitlement, questioning how historical privilege continues to shape contemporary society.

Possession, Land and Landscape

The gesture of “giving a mountain” highlights the ongoing colonial framing of land as property rather than Country.

Museums and Collecting

Her work critiques how museums have historically classified, traded and displayed First Nations cultural material without consent.

Humour and Irony as Critical Tools

Bright colours, surreal characters and playful actions invite engagement while addressing serious, complex themes.

Rewriting History

Ross reverses roles, traps colonial figures in jars, and destabilises traditional archives to imagine alternate narratives.

Visual Arts – Making & Responding

Years 3–6

  • Explore how artists communicate meaning through manipulation of images, colour and symbolism (AC9AVA4E02, AC9AVA6E02).
  • Experiment with materials to communicate viewpoints about past and present (AC9AVA4M02).

Years 7–10

  • Analyse how artists challenge assumptions and structures of power (AC9AVA8E01, AC9AVA10E01).
  • Manipulate technologies, including digital media, to create artworks that critique or reinterpret history (AC9AVA8M02, AC9AVA10M02).

Humanities & Social Sciences (HASS)

Years 4–6

  • Investigate early contact and the consequences of European settlement for First Nations Peoples (AC9HS4K03, AC9HS6K02).

Years 7–10

  • Analyse colonisation, cultural perspectives and contested histories (AC9HH9K03, AC9HH10K03).

Cross‑Curriculum Priorities

  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures – understanding ongoing impacts of colonisation.
  • Sustainability – examining human responsibility to place and environment.

Civics and Citizenship

Years 7-10

Citizenship, Power and Decision‑Making

Ross exposes systems of power, possession and authority by showing colonial figures “offering” each other a mountain—an absurd metaphor for how land was claimed, traded and owned during colonisation.
This supports students to examine:

  • how unequal power structures are created
  • how decision‑making has historically excluded First Nations peoples
  • the ongoing impact of colonial systems in Australia today
  • How power is distributed and exercised (AC9HC8K01, AC9HC9K01)
  • How people have influenced change in Australia (AC9HC8K02)

Historical Perspectives, Rights and Responsibilities

By reanimating an 1786 watercolour documenting items taken from the Pacific during James Cook’s voyages, Ross challenges students to consider whose stories are told, who has been silenced, and whose rights were denied.
Her reversal, placing colonial heads in jars, encourages students to think critically about:

  • the ethics of collecting and displaying cultural material
  • the responsibilities institutions hold when telling histories
  • how cultural perspectives shape understandings of citizenship
  • Different perspectives on Australia’s colonial past, including First Nations perspectives (AC9HC7K03, AC9HC8K03)
  • Rights and responsibilities of groups in past and present (AC9HC8K04)

Democracy, Identity and Representation

Ross’s work asks viewers to reflect on their own position within systems built on colonial assumptions. The presence of a surveillance camera connects past systems of control to modern ones—raising questions about:

  • how identities are monitored, represented and categorised
  • how public institutions shape national identity
  • what responsible citizenship looks like in contemporary Australia
  • Belonging, identity and diversity in modern Australia (AC9HC7K01, AC9HC9K02)
  • How institutions support democracy and participation (AC9HC8K02)

Civics Skills: Critical Inquiry and Ethical Understanding

I give you a mountain is ideal for developing the Civics & Citizenship inquiry skills required in Years 7–10.
Students can:

  • analyse primary and secondary sources (e.g., Sarah Stone’s watercolour, colonial archives)
  • evaluate ethical issues such as cultural authority and representation
  • synthesise multiple perspectives
  • reflect on how histories shape contemporary civic responsibility
  • Analyse sources for perspectives, values and reliability (AC9HC8S01)
  • Evaluate ethical issues in civic contexts (AC9HC9S02)

Curator Leigh Robb discusses the video work of artist Joan Ross

  • What familiar images, symbols or characters can you identify? What has Joan Ross changed or exaggerated?
  • How do colour, movement and layering influence the mood of the animation?
  • What might the floating heads represent? Why remove the body?
  • What does “giving” someone a mountain suggest about the colonial mindset
  • Ross uses humour and absurdity to explore difficult histories. How does this affect your interpretation?
  • How does Ross challenge the viewer? What responsibilities does the work ask us to consider?
  • Where do you see similar power dynamics operating today e.g online, in institutions, or in public space?
  • How might surveillance relate to modern forms of control or visibility?

Joan Ross, born Glasgow, Scotland 1961, I give you a mountain, 2018, Sydney, HD video animation; 6:30 min; Gift of Dr Pei-Yin Hsu, Pam McKee & Jennifer Hallett through the Art Gallery of South Australia Foundation Collectors Club 2022, Art Gallery of South Australia, © Joan Ross.

Cabinet of Curiosities – Reversed

Create a mixed‑media “cabinet” that flips power dynamics.

  • place symbols of colonial power in jars.
  • juxtapose historical and contemporary objects.
  • add labels that challenge traditional museum language

Animate an Absurd Exchange

Create a short looping animation where two characters exchange something impossible (a cloud, a river, a sound).
Students consider:

  • What does the exchange reveal about power?
  • Who has agency?
  • Is the action fair, silly or unsettling?

Landscape that Disappears

Draw or paint a landscape then gradually erase, cut away or cover parts of it to represent loss, possession or change.