A Conversation with Dakota Gaudio
Boorloo (Perth) has a way of creeping under your skin. Lonely and loving at the same time.
For Italo-Australian multi-disciplinary artist Dakota Gaudio, that tension shaped the piece she created for Flash. Issue 03— a Project See & B x Jean Marie Film collaboration that gave twenty creatives second-hand film cameras and total freedom.
Dakota works across theatre, pole, DJing and movement-based practice, often drawing from personal experience and the communities around her.
For this project, she picked up a Fujifilm DL-1000 Zoom and turned the camera toward the friendships that carried her through 2025.
Her final work, Boorloo Birthday, layers two 35mm images: a candid frame from a friend’s birthday and the textured surface of a wall in Northbridge. A portrait of Boorloo made up close — where the city is something you feel before you describe.
As Dakota writes in her artist statement:
“Boorloo wouldn’t be half the place it is without the love and irreverence of my friends, who make the most isolated city in the world bearable.”
Where did this project begin for you?
“The idea for my piece came from reflecting on a moment in 2025 when I really relied on outings with my friends… These times would bring me back to the present and make me more appreciative for what I have looking back.”
How did you approach making the work?
When the film came back, the process shifted from documenting to shaping:
“I really just experimented. Looking at the raw images was a little daunting… But the minute I saw the picture from my friend's birthday, I knew I’d captured a very special moment in time. Layering that over a juicy texture from a random wall in Northbridge represented the dimensions of this city that I just don't think enough people talk about.”
What were you hoping the work would hold?
Dakota describes her relationship with the city as complex and shifting:
“Sometimes I love it, sometimes I despise it… This piece should highlight how much love I have, or have had, for this city. How it remains unforgettable but sometimes forgettable at the same time. It’s almost like an ‘if you haven't experienced it, you won't get it’ feeling.”
How would you describe your practice?
“I would describe my practice as extremely multifaceted… I’ve explored so many personal experiences and intimate stories in my work, often giving the reins over to my team to refine these ideas and make something beautiful with me.”
“Music, movement and theatre all feed the work. I DJ, where I get to invite people to enjoy and explore themselves on the dance floor… I also work with my body doing pole dance. But my artistic love for many years can be traced back to my theatre works, where I get to create bodies of work with collaborators for audiences to enjoy.”
What’s inspiring you creatively right now?
“I often explore high-intensity experiences like grief or drive or sex… I don't like anything I do to be half-baked.”
Right now, the body is central:
“Anything to do with movement and wellness inspires me, as I’m completing my pilates qualification. I really just want to learn how to direct others with my body and create works that include this. Anything slinky where two people get to move in the space together. I really am inspired by connection, as I feel like our idea of that is changing alongside the world.”
What’s next?
“I am currently producing my friend Josie Walsh’s show Red Ticket at The Blue Room Theatre. I also DJ here and there, so keep an eye out for me. All of my work is beautifully plastered on my IG @dakotaismissing.”
Flash. — Exhibition & Issue 03 Launch
Flash. Issue 03 One-week-only exhibition:
19 — 25 January 2026
10am to 4pm daily
Terrace Greenhouse Gallery
223 South Terrace, South Fremantle, WA
Free entry
Project See & B is dedicated to amplifying under-represented voices in the creative industry. Issue 03 was made possible thanks to the support of The Blackbird Foundation.
