Kat Parker: Lament – A memorial of Australian extinction

15 November 2025 – 15 March 2026

SAM Spotlight 2025 artist Kat Parker draws attention to the worrying effects of Australia’s animal extinction rates through her delicate creative practice of printmaking and paper-based art. Parker’s first solo exhibition, Lament – A Memorial of Australian Extinction features a collection of her meticulously constructed, life-sized sculptures of extinct species that memorialise their existence whilst lamenting their loss.

Australia has one of the highest rates of animal extinction in the world, yet most people can only name one extinct native species: the thylacine (Tasmanian tiger). Since European colonisation in 1788, nearly all extinctions have been the result of human interference. Introduced invasive species, deforestation, and disease compounded by climate change and the disruption of traditional fire regimes have led to the loss of at least 100 endemic species. Yet, it is often the invasive species—rabbits, feral cats, and cane toads—that receive the attention, rather than the native animals they disrupt.

In her practice, artist Kat Parker tries to correct this imbalance by encouraging a deeper appreciation of nature through print making and paper-based art. Artworks in Lament-A memorial of Australian extinction are part of her ongoing effort to raise awareness of extinct species and memorialise them. Parker’s sculptures—meticulously constructed life-sized representations of extinct species—are created by layering linocuts printed onto repurposed paper that, from a distance, could easily be mistaken for real animals.

Kat Parker is this year’s SAM Spotlight artist, an annual opportunity for local emerging artists to present a solo exhibition in SAM’s Community Gallery.