Dean Ansell (b. 1997) is a multidisciplinary artist of Papua Niugini (Riḡorabana, Balawaia) descent based in Magandjin, Australia. His practice connects cultural heritage to material processes that engage his body and the environment. Working across installation, soundscape, and embodied performance, Ansell interprets Melanesian mythology and ritual practice through a contemporary diasporic lens. By correlating inherited knowledge with personal experiences of cultural displacement, his work expresses the layered complexities of Melanesian diasporic identity.
He has exhibited in galleries and spaces across Australia including Institute of Modern Art, Outer Space, Milani Carpark Gallery, Blindside Gallery, Sawtooth ARI, Bus Projects, and Wreckers Artspace.
I acknowledge the Jagera and Turrbal people as the traditional owners of the lands on which I live and practice. I pay my deepest respects to elders, past, present, and emerging, and acknowledge the significant role Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have and continue to play within my community.