In 2018 BOAA Biennale of Australian Art took over the town of Ballarat with exhibitions by some of Australia’s most exciting contemporary artists. My exhibition ‘Fourteen’ was installed in an industrial office space in the infamous George Framer Building. Aged walls and dank floors featured in this disused bacon factory creating an eerie ambiance.

I created the photo-based works in ‘Fourteen’ when my eldest was preparing a prolonged journey overseas. I was struck by the strength of my maternal connection and photographed the landscape to explore my feelings of love, pride and sadness. The expansive rolling hills and stormy skies around our home became a metaphor for my experience of motherhood and the deep connection I feel to my children.

Until this exhibition, I had seen motherhood as a soft subject for art. I worried that it would be considered weak, less serious and navel gazing. I wanted to turn the narrative around and celebrate the worthy and often, unvalued, work that women do each and every day.

FOURTEEN | BOAA BIENNALE OF AUSTRALIAN ART | 2018