The Dream of the Mirror

Mel Deerson works across performance, video, sound, writing, drawing, curating and teaching. Their recent work engages with the historical invisibility of queer desire as a generative portal for revelatory connection. The Dream of the Mirror 2025 is an entirely improvised video shot on iPhone using DIY and analogue effects. It creates a kaleidoscopic dream vision using footage from Derek Jarman's garden in Dungeness, transforming Jarman's landscapes into a semi-abstract, mystical space viewed through a stained-glass window. A strange figure gestures among glowing poppies, stones flicker like light refraction on glass, and the sea pulses with an electric field—all seen through a hand mirror. A music score by the artist, drawing on medieval drones, punk distortions and improvised synth experiments, drives the work's rhythm. Commissioned by UNSW Galleries as a contemporary response to Derek Jarman: Delphinium Days, the exhibition is accompanied by an artist publication featuring poems and drawings.