The Private Eye – a foreigner’s power of observation, was first exhibited by Vicki McConville in Australia in 1999. 

Using her own cultural ancestry (Swiss Italian/Ticino and Irish/Celtic) as a starting point, ’The Private Eye’ combines visual research and archival images and objects, digital image making, traditional printmaking, sound and construction. 

The installation included a series of large scale digital image Lambda prints, mixed media works and Diorama boxes and a soundscape.  

The work was exhibited at Goya Gallery Melbourne and at multiple Regional Galleries in Australia. 

In the year 2000 The Private Eye was toured to the UK as part of Australia’s Centenary of Federation celebrations. At the Heads Up Festival in London and the Empire Museum in Bristol. Over a 6 month period, the show was seen by over 75,000 visitors. It was opened by the Australian and U.K Arts Ministers.  

At the London opening of ‘The Private Eye’ it was noted that “Vicki McConville’s mind bending images tell us the stories of Australia’s cultural migration in a new language. These works provide us with a contemporary insight into the processes and impact of the cultural assimilations of the past. So, like those who trod before her, she helps us to Go Over Old Ground”.