Bystanders

Bystanders
2025
Acrylic on Wooden Board 
101 x 101cm

Bystanders is a response to the discomforting reality of witnessing tragedy from a distance — a feeling that has become more familiar in today’s hyper-connected world. Through social media and the internet, we are constantly exposed to pain, injustice, and violence, both globally and here in Australia.

While these platforms can be a force for good — enabling donations, awareness, and action — they also create a space where horror can be passively consumed or even exploited. It’s easy to feel helpless, like a spectator in the face of real human suffering.

In this piece, the stark white outlines of the figures represent those who watch — present but detached. They stand over a single red figure: a symbol of tragedy, of real loss and pain. Bystanders confronts the tension between bearing witness and truly engaging. It’s about that internal struggle — wanting to help, to do more, while wrestling with the limits of digital empathy.