Biennial Benefit Gig (for me)

Horror Vacui, The Bristol Biennial

The theme for the first Bristol Biennial will be Storytelling, inviting participants to interpret the theme through visual arts, film and theatre. Storytelling exists in all facets of life: we tell stories and anecdotes to engage others and break down isolating barriers between individuals or groups. Storytelling can enrich our lives, it can be cathartic, it can impart wisdom or illustrate values and customs. 

Horror Vacui 1946 - 1986

This work is based on photographs of my family. In constructing this work I have selected images that represent a timeline, approx 1946 – 1986.

The timeline represents my family history post World War II, in particular the maternal legacy passed from grandmother, mother to daughter. Because of my family’s Jewish lineage, this history is unavoidably tainted by the traumatic legacy of war and displacement. The images follow my family from Germany, to Tel Aviv, Paris and Melbourne. Each family member has been silhouetted; personal identity has been masked by the traumas of the past.

The images are not presented chronologically, but are grouped according to certain echoes and visual dialogue. An example of this is the pairing of the images of my mother in Israel 1951 and Melbourne, 1976. In the first she is a young girl of 5 years celebrating the harvest festival of Sukot, the second image is in Melbourne, it is her 30^th birthday. In both images she is wearing a crown of flowers and leaves.

Horror Vacui evokes the threat of the vacuum, the palpable presence of absence and the repetition of history.

1957,  Melbourne

1986,  Perth

1982,  Canberra

1966, Melbourne

Israel 1951