LISA TOMASETTI

‘Burnt Memory’ is a collaboration with Oscar nominated cinematographer Seamus McGarvey (‘The Hours’ ‘Atonement’ ‘Nowhere Boy’).

Referencing Old Master paintings I have used women and children from different cultures to replace the traditional ‘white middle class’ sitter of previous centuries. The sitters, carefully selected for their ‘stillness’ are placed in large empty spaces to create haunting portraits which tackle issues such as displacement, loss and grief.

Thematically, this exhibition also explores my fascination for the nostalgia of distant memory and childhood lost. The work explores the themes of childhood, identity and how life’s experiences can be ‘written on our skin…how we can often recreate rather than recall certain experiences from our past.

The ‘Burnt Memory’ exhibition concentrates on large scale works, cinematic in scope and offering an expanded sense of possibility.

The work is inspired by Caravaggio and Rembrandt, with the idea of tableaux and location. The figures are placed in a strongly implied narrative context but intended to remain deeply enigmatic. There is the intention to ponder the impact of the environment on the emotional state of the subject, but the location remains evocative rather than literal. A sense of mystery and reflection is implied.

The series was shot in the historic space of Sydney’s CarriageWorks, a long abandoned nineteenth century railway yard workshop lately converted into an arts centre. The placement of an indigenous woman in period dress in a burnt out remnant of the industrial past is another subversion of stereotype. In the same way as in the portraits of an Indian girl in traditional dress, depicted in a style evoking Vermeer, I explore the representation of women and children through art history.

- Lisa Tomasetti

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Works available in 2 sizes: 100x100cm and 61x61cm
Framed or unframed
Edition of 15 (for each work there are 15 items available at each size)