Look Who’s Calling the Kettle Black 1 & 2 - r e a (Rea Saunders)

Look Who’s Calling the Kettle Black 1 & 2 form a paired work that confronts the persistence of racialised language, power and hypocrisy within Australian society. Drawing on the well-known phrase, r e a reclaims and destabilises its meaning, turning it back on systems that have historically judged, labelled and marginalised First Nations people.

Working with conceptual precision, r e a exposes how whiteness has long positioned itself as neutral or invisible, while casting Blackness as marked, problematic or other. By isolating and repeating the phrase across two works, the artist creates a rhythm of confrontation, forcing viewers to sit with the discomfort embedded in everyday language and the assumptions it carries.

The diptych format underscores repetition and reinforcement, suggesting that these attitudes are not isolated incidents but systemic and ongoing. Meaning is not softened or disguised; instead, r e a uses directness as a strategy, compelling the viewer to reflect on their own position within structures of race, authority and representation.