Francesca Rosa is a photo-media artist who lives and works in Etty Bay, Queensland. Her exhibition Nostalgia, presents a series of new works that explore the lives and personal histories of migrant families, including her own, in the Innisfail region of Queensland. Their stories are traced through family portraits, diaries, archivally sourced images, manipulated and annotated landscapes, and inter-generational oral and video recordings. The resulting works by Rosa resonate with personal stories and compelling authenticity.

Nostalgia explores notions of displacement, isolation and depression – experiences shared by many Italian women living away from home in post-World War II, Far North Queensland.

For Rosa, experiencing the aging of her mother in a foreign land is an emotional journey, articulated through her work with the accuracy of a loving daughter. Grief, loneliness and regret remain real and raw memories for her mother, articulated in brief recorded conversations, 

After World War II, I migrated to Australia on my own. I didn’t belong.
I married a cane cutter and lived in a cane barrack. I missed my home.
I had my first child and I gave up work.
My sister died young. She had a wonderful laugh….
My partner died from cancer last year. I regret not learning to drive.
Many of my friends no longer visit.
They are gone.