‘Can I pray for you’ is a body of work drawn from a lifetime of awkward and, oftentimes, insensitive interactions with people who have just learnt that I am terminally ill. This text-based textile installation deconstructs these interactions, amplifying phrases, questions, and statements that I hear over and over, highlighting the absurdity of our reaction to mortality. Death, and dying have always been taboo subjects. People living with terminal illnesses are automatically viewed through a binary lens: are you an inspiration or a tragedy? I am neither, existing somewhere in the liminal space in- between.

Snippets from these conversations, and how I really want to respond, ‘Stop telling me about your dead friends!’ have been sewn into large, colourful quilts that the audience is invited to interact with. These quilts reconceptualise one made and given to me in hospital by a women’s auxiliary group. They are intended to make visible the way we emotionally engage with people who live with disabilities, highlighting the powerful and lasting effect these communications can have – even when we are too desensitised to truly comprehend.

Amy Claire Mills is a Sydney-based emerging artist, whose art practice explores identity and self-preservation through immersive installations and performance, by which she becomes both the artist and subject.

With a broad range of skills, Amy has worked with community and art organisations, local councils and fellow artists to curate exhibitions and community events. In 2017 Amy travelled to Iceland to partake in a textiles based artist residency at Textilmiðstöð Íslands (Icelandic Textile Centre), where she facilitated cross cultural workshops. Born 29th of August 1988 Amy lives and works in Sydney, Australia. Graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Hons) from UNSW Art and Design in 2017. Amy is a Founding member of Show Us Your Teeth, the all- female feminist performance Art collective founded in 2014.