exhibit

2011 • Everyday Fictions •

(Master of Fine Arts exhibition)

These paintings are 're'-representations of 'found photographs'. They are referenced by old photographs that have been sourced from garage sales, rubbish bins or roadsides and then uploaded for others to appreciate (there are entire websites dedicated solely to the collection and display of discarded photos). They depict a slice from a moment of a life that at one point was deemed worthy of a keepsake and then.. unworthy of keeping, either because of being unintentionally disposed of, forgotten, rejected or no longer required. Perhaps the original photographs were discarded as they were deemed a failure to 'capture the moment', were out of focus, poorly cropped, blurry or degraded by time. Perhaps because the content or person depicted was one that someone wished to forgotten.

Part of my fascination is the anonymous journey these images have taken. The time, location and any of the participants is unknown, and unknowable. Yet they remind me of the moments that I have chosen to fix in time in my memories, the journey each of us is on and our own treasured and/or embarrassing records of our passage through life that we either cherish or ban.

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I chose to honour these momentary recordings,  each one a thin slice of a person's life. Due to this perceived lack of value or success, I chose images that displayed some form of failure and utilized the medium of household oil-based enamel paint to facilitate my own slippage in their creation as well as the attributes of d.i.y that enamel paint invokes.