Four of us. A triptych.

November 11, 2023

Over the last little while, I have been experimenting with using old family photos as subject material, and I’ve also been interested in the social masks that we put on.

In this triptych, I have painted myself, my sister, and brother with our father from a photograph taken at a family function in the mid-1990s.

I have given us all masks representing our personalities, mine is a self-deprecating dig at my noted low self-esteem.

I love painting birds.

My sister and I are supporting magpies on our shoulders. A Magpie, although considered a social animal, the Australian Ancient Indigenous peoples also denoted Magpies with love and protection.

My dad and brother are supporting crows. As both my dad and brother have died, crows represent messengers from the other side, and in Australian Aboriginal religion and mythology, the crow is a trickster. This is a quality and trait that I would give both of them.