simone kennedy
twenty six mothers

Twenty six photographs of mother and daughter (a singular image repeated 26 times) are developed as a composite of forms through collage. The focus is on revealing (through a kind of compulsive sense of creating an altered reality) the demonstrative behaviour of a woman ‘imagined’.

The mother is adorned with collaged symbols placed as a narrative in each image to represent an ‘imagined’ state. Each symbolic ‘alteration’ is built up and extended leading to the bifurcation of the mother. The narrative is extended to the viewer by the various items which the mother carries under her right arm.

The symbols attempt to reflect true and felt effects of a ‘lived’ experience of poignant behaviours conveyed by the mother and transferred to the daughter (from the perspective of the daughter). The pram embodies the daughter’s ‘spirit’ and is further embellished with collaged symbols each revealing a singular narrative. Sub plots embellish the work with the ‘curious slug’, the playful moths, the seed indicator marking time, the black rectangular form enforcing silence, the liberation of the monkey propped on a sea urchin of desire, the ‘rocking’ (falling) of ‘absence’ and finally the white form Slater acting as the remnant ‘witch’ revealing the protagonist.

At the fulcrum of the mother’s image the daughter is adorned with the collaged symbols and steadily accumulates thirteen more ending with twenty six elements which form components of her identity. The photographs line the walls of a darkroom constructed as an emotional space with ‘captive’ moments which exist in a form of stasis. The darkroom exists to support the ‘experience’ of the images allowing a drifting of tension, revealing (and concealing) all sensibilities.

1. You are a beautiful
2. You are a beautiful absent
3. You are a beautiful absent hungry
4. You are a beautiful absent hungry thirsty
5. You are a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow
6. You are a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic
7. You are a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery
8. You are a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey
9. You are a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding
10. You are a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink
11. You are a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white
12. You are a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white witch
13. You are a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white witch baby

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14. I am a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white witch baby hollow mother
15. I am a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white witch baby hollow weeping mother
16. I am a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white witch baby hollow weeping wanton mother
17. I am a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white witch baby hollow weeping wanton watchful mother
18. I am a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white witch baby hollow weeping wanton watchful eat mother
19. I am a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white witch baby hollow weeping wanton watchful eat me mother
20. I am a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white witch baby hollow weeping wanton watchful eat me slowly mother
21. I am a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white witch baby hollow weeping wanton watchful eat me slowly greedy mother
22. I am a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white witch baby hollow weeping wanton watchful eat me slowly greedy one mother
23. I am a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white witch baby hollow weeping wanton watchful eat me slowly greedy one I mother
24. I am a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white witch baby hollow weeping wanton watchful eat me slowly greedy one I see mother
25. I am a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white witch baby hollow weeping wanton watchful eat me slowly greedy one I see you mother
26. I am a beautiful absent hungry thirsty yellow plastic mystery monkey bleeding pink white witch baby hollow weeping wanton watchful eat me slowly greedy one I see you clearly mother