If the average person holds about 13 secrets at any given time, acclaimed WA street/visual artist Stormie Mills is now down to 12 with the unveiling of his first solo exhibition in an Australian State gallery, All The Secrets Are Buried Between The Oceans And The Mountains.

Mills has spent the month of July transforming The Art Gallery of WA during the exhibition installation, where new and previous works draw on his personal histories and observations accumulated over decades to reveal the full scope of his creative practice.

AGWA director Colin Walker said Mills had not simply filled the gallery with artworks, he had fundamentally transformed the space into a world shaped by his imagination, memories and experiences.

“Visitors move through a series of environments that blur the boundaries between exhibition design, installation and storytelling,” Walker said.

“Through a massive expanse of mirrored floor and paintings that extend across the floor and walls, the gallery itself becomes an active surface where artworks, architecture and audiences are reflected into one another, creating moments of both literal and metaphorical reflection.

“It is a visually captivating exhibition and an emotionally rich one. The strongest exhibitions stay with us long after we’ve left the gallery, and I believe this is one of those experiences.”

Mills said for many years he had seen and interpreted the world through the characters he created, their backstories unspoken but drafted into the “weight” life rested upon them.

“I am grateful to have been able to work with AGWA to share a survey of these characters old and new; their experiences, dreams, regrets and hopes for visitors to connect with,” Mills added.

Visitors to the exhibition are also invited to step into All The Secrets, a new participatory space to write down their secrets, dreams, thoughts and longings, which will never be disclosed, but rather immediately shredded and released into a secure vault.

All these tangled secrets are set to be transformed by Mills into a new artwork.

“I do strongly believe in the power of journalling, the action of writing and drawing,” Mills said.

“Putting down words on paper is a process in which we are lightened by an action of revelation and care for our secret selves.

“AGWA has created a space that allows an anonymous contribution of a fierce vulnerability to a collective work that sees us feeling a little less alone, and more seen and understood in a kinder world.”

All The Secrets Are Buried Between The Oceans And The Mountains is at AGWA, August 1 to November 8.

Stormie Mills artist talk is on 11am-12pm, August 8, with an opportunity to meet Mills from 1-2pm.