Materials: rescued (and sanitised) Viva Paper towel, embroidery thread, stabiliser, plywood.

“The reason for my painting large canvases is that I want to be intimate and human. To paint a small picture is to place yourself outside your experience”. (Mark Rothko)

Dimensions: 53cm x 16cm (all three)

This past year I have been in my studio excavating the terror of my matrilineal heritage. It has been simultaneously harrowing and affirming. I am lucky to be able to do this work from a place of extraordinary safety—a luxury that too many women have not had; continue not to have; or could have it taken away at any moment. Each arrangement in Bruise Triptych is an intimate weave made from cut strips of rescued Viva paper towel stained from my kitchen processes or ‘spills’. It offers the viewer a fraught glimpse into a distressingly common facet of Australian domestic life—violence.

From left to right: fresh attack; black & blue; greenish.