In the echo chamber (Grade 4, 1976: 31 colours)
Jennifer MILLS: artist
The image for this mixed media watercolour is an actual school photograph from Mills’ own childhood (she is second from the left in a purple poncho). The rest of the series from her recent exhibition In the echo chamber, were sourced from the internet as she searched for replacement images of school photos she no longer could find. Interested in the range of possibilities within portraiture, Mills makes annotations to the drawing noting details to individualise the children, to extend their identity beyond the photographic representation in a particular time and place. Mills sees the text comments as “reflective of the memories/personal associations I make echoing – as I make the work/think of the original photo as well as all the things in my mind/on the radio as I make the work. A visual cacophony layering memories/ sound/colour.”
Title
In the echo chamber (Grade 4, 1976: 31 colours)
Artist/Maker and role
Jennifer MILLS: artist
Date
2013
Medium
watercolour, gouache, ink and pencil on paper
Measurements
74.4 x 93.0 x 37.0cm (frame)
Credit line
Purchased through the Sir Claude Hotchin Art Foundation, The Art Gallery of Western Australia Foundation, 2014
The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia
Accession number
2014/0161