Fatherhood - a series of portraits
I am exploring the portrait... what is it that makes a portrait beyond a simple physical resemblance – which after all, can be caught in a photograph. This series of works is of my husband Macca in his role as father to our two young girls.
The series became an exploration of how materials can influence the portrait. Lightweight translucent paper speaks of fragility, vulnerability. Concrete gives the figurative-landscape-portrait a sense of weight but also speaks to the beauty in the every-day. Copper shines with those freshly made sandpaper marks that follow highlights on the face, but where the aged textured surface is left alone areas receed - speaking of the passing of time, being an older father, bringing new life. The compilation of family videos projected on paper and wall speak of intimacy, inter-connectedness, strength in vulnerability.
All works have the medium as a link; charcoal / black ink. This brings some cohesion to the series, but also speaks to the dualities of simplicity vs complexity; vulnerability vs/as strength.
My final work Fatherhood: same, same but different, bought in what elements I thought were needed for the series; greater insight into his daily life as a full-time wheelchair user, and greater viewer interaction through giving the space to walk around the banner, which turns with the breeze created, casting ever-changing shadows and dissecting the projected image. That interruption in the picture plane speaks to me of his severed spinal cord injury and life interrupted… yet continuing nonetheless… finding joy in the broken. The drawing by our 5 yo daughter of her daddy holding his two girls connects us the viewer to memories of making their own drawings of their own father/family as small children.
Pieces of me, 2022, charcoal on paper (above)
This work is the first in a new series in which my husband becomes the subject.
Macca is a devoted dad, but there is an important and unusual factor that influences how he parents our children; he has C5/6 quadriplegia and has no use of his legs, and limited use of his arms and hands - he is a power wheelchair user.
However, in this work I've chosen to not draw the wheelchair which is so often a visual representation and signal of disability.
Macca – the family man, 2022, charcoal and soft pastel on copper (above)
Macca broke his neck at age 30 in 1996 diving into the Murray River, and although I met him many years later, we’ve been through a lot together, including a severe infection in 2019 that almost killed him. Since then we’ve had the COVID pandemic, much of which he spent in bed with pressure sores, a pregnancy and baby, and multiple ongoing medical issues. Through it all he has remained focused on being a loving and supportive husband, and a dedicated and involved Dad.
Father & daughter - shell collecting, 2022, charcoal on concrete (above)
When Dylan Alcott was named Australian of the Year 2022 we were both elated as he gave a magnificent speech focused on the need for more inclusion of people with disability. The following quote from his acceptance speech struck a cord with me “My advice is to you, non-disabled people. It's time for you to challenge your unconscious biases, leave your negative perceptions at the door and lift your expectation of what you think people with disability can do. Because it's always more than you think.”
Fatherhood: same, same but different, 2022, ink and graphite on paper, video projection. (Featuring a drawing by the artist’s and subject’s daughter Eleven)
This presents a montage of family videos as a form of portraiture and plays with visual perception. The viewer is invited to walk around the translucent paper banner, and their very presence will affect how the banner moves and therefore how the drawings and video are viewed.