MOTHERSHIP
Mothership holds a vision of cooperation as survival, providing a speculative framework for questioning how we prepare our bodies for an uncertain future shaped by the climate crisis.
The work creates an eco-feminist dialogue with the future, re-focusing feminine ideals as embodied tools that can be practised by everyone. By merging contemporary fitness culture with feminist science fiction, the performance explores the female body beyond ideals of productivity and self-optimisation, proposing pleasure, sensuality, and collaboration as vital forms of resilience.
We ask: What muscles must we cultivate for a feminist future, and what might a "world otherwise" feel like?.
Image Rogan Yeoh of Jenni Large and Pat Toh Ling in MOTHERSHIP
CREATIVE TEAM
Lead Artist — Pat Toh Ling
Co-Authors — Pat Toh Ling & Jenni Large
Collaborating Artist — Freyja Wild
Dramaturge — Luke George
Sound Artists — To be Announced Soon
Producers — Lucy Forge & Adam Wheeler
Producing Partners — Tasdance & Dance Nucleus
Image by Adam Wheeler of Jenni Large & Pat Toh Ling in MOTHERSHIP development
MEET THE ARTISTS
PAT TOH LING
Pat Toh is a body-based performance maker who looks to the gym and fitness space as a source of inspiration. She creates performances that are endurance-based as she explores themes of labour, femininity, adaptation and survival. Her stripped down aesthetics sees her centering her inquiry on the body as site, resource and medium through which the personal, politics and fantasy intersect.
A Shell–NAC Arts Scholarship recipient, she has performed extensively on international stages, collaborating with prominent directors and choreographers, including Manuela Infante, Daniel Kok, and Choy Ka Fai. Her solo work Topography of Breath has toured across cities in Asia and Europe. She is currently an Associate Artist at Dance Nucleus.
FREYJA WILD
Freyja Wild is a life-long contemporary circus artist. She has toured the world with some of the biggest names in the business, subtly subverting gender roles and embodying feminine strength. You can still see echoes of her style and innovation in hula hooping and group acrobatics throughout the circus sector.
She is a founding member, and the Artistic Director and CEO of ROOKE, Tasmania's leading contemporary circus company. She cares deeply about community and creating meaningful, stable work for circus artists as they move away from full-time touring to settle down. In 2024, Freyja received the honour of a Sidney Myer Creative Fellowship in recognition of her contributions to the
circus sector.
LUKE GEORGE
Luke George is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice spans performance, installation, craft and curation. Born in Lutruwita/Tasmania and based in Naarm/Melbourne, Luke works with rope, tension, suspension and release to explore connection, care, risk and the relationships between people, place and environment. Informed by queer politics, their work creates participatory spaces where audiences and performers engage through movement, mutual listening and shared responsibility.
Luke collaborates extensively with artists and communities across Australia and internationally, including a decade-long partnership with Singapore/Berlin-based artist Daniel Kok. Their work has been presented at major festivals and institutions including the Venice Biennale, National Gallery of Victoria, National Gallery Singapore, RISING, Dance Massive and Liveworks Festival.
A recipient of multiple Green Room Awards and four fellowships, including a Creative Australia Fellowship, Luke is currently a studio artist at Collingwood Yards Arts Precinct.