Based in
Australia
Photographed in
Australia
‘The Conversations We Have’ is a practice-led research project that explores the mother-daughter relationship through a feminist perspective. Historically, this relationship has been constructed and narrated through patriarchy. Using collaborative theatre as a way to destabilise this, my mother and I perform in a domestic space to critique narratives related to mother-daughter intimacy, mother-blame, matrophobia (the fear of turning into one’s own mother) and motherhood as a social construct. In doing so, we reclaim our relationship in its own image.
Importantly, this research contributes to an under-explored field in photography, and art more broadly. While the social construction of motherhood has been examined in contemporary art, the mother-daughter relationship hasn’t been imaged to the same extent. Or, when it is represented, it does not reflect the relationship that my mother and I have. I am seeking to expose the previously mentioned narratives for what they are – an ideology. ‘The Conversations We Have’ conveys the process of beginning a dialogue with my mother and writing a narrative that reflects our lived experience.
