HOME Installation
The idea of home is a place where you can unwind, rest, be yourself in a safe and secure environment. For many home is the furthest place from this … 1 in 3 Australian women (34.2%) has experienced physical and/or sexual violence perpetrated by a man since the age of 15. 1 in 4 Australian women (23.0%) has experienced physical or sexual violence by current or former intimate partner since age 15.In my family, my grandparents were Polish refugees after the 2nd World War and were put in camps in Medowie outside Newcastle. Australia was supposed to be the Promised land and for my grandparents, the reality was dirt floor tents , 4 kids under 5 and no prospect of work or prosperity as they could not speak English. Things quickly turned dark , with PTSD , mental health and alcohol abuse. My grandfather regularly beat my grandmother to the point that she was near death on a few occasions. In one instance he called the police as I think he was afraid she would die, he said she went crazy and he had to sort her out. They took her away to mental asylum for six months away from her four children and my aunt who was twelve had to leave school to look after the family. When she returned my grandmother ( babcia) would vanish for hours per day. My father eventually found her deep in the bush trying to build her own home out of sticks to house her children away from her abusive husband.The thought of her hand building a home out of sticks for me is the strongest and saddest image I can conjure. In this work I want to explore the desperation she experienced and many other women until this day. The extent they went to try and create Home.
I want to create a multi disciplinary art work as a shrine to these women in history from all different cultures and backgrounds who desperately try and create home.
I hope this work will create an awareness and an opening up of conversation and call to action on this issue.
Video Art
Credits
Director | Jasmin Tarasin
Contributor | Sophia Brous
Contributor | Stephanie Simcox