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| Two-faced Woman, 2013, linocut with Chine-collé and hand colouring 37.5 x 28 cm. Photograph by Shane Jones |
The rear view head 'portraits' that dominated my work for well over a decade were first unveiled in the solo exhibition Private Collection at Australian Galleries, Melbourne in 2000. Katherine McDonald's accompanying catalogue essay was perceptively titled Woman’s Other Visage.
It has been several years now since my protagonists turned again to face the viewer. Almost invariably, however, they wear masks, frequently in the form of moths. In Two-faced Woman hair and mask iconography are combined, creating the illusion of an individual with a second self whose eyes watch us as we watch her back.
This work has had a lengthy period of gestation. It was conceived during a residency at the Art Vault in 2011, but put on hold when several other projects intervened. Meanwhile, it became the basis for a drawing of the same title, which was a finalist in the 2012 Rick Amor Drawing Prize.
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| Two-faced Woman, 2012, pencil and pastel, 75 x 56 cm. Photograph by Shane Jones |
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| The Moth Woman Vigilantes Unmasked, 2012, zine, folded from A4 sized paper. Photograph by DK |
The unfinished linocut was also the primary inspiration for a limited edition illustrated zine, The Moth Woman Vigilantes Unmasked, 2012. Having spawned so many other images, the original Two-faced Woman is finally about to stand in its own right. Recently completed, it has just been selected as a finalist in the 2013 Geelong Print Prize.
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| Printing Two-faced Woman at Ballarat, 2013. Photograph by Shane Jones |