Gallipoli prize 2017 - Alison Chiam Finalist.
In 2013 I travelled to Gallipoli with a group of artists to paint. I was inspired by artist and friend, Idris Murphy who had recently found over 100 love letters written by his grandfather from the trenches of Gallipoli.
“My dearest Violet, you talk about dances, my word what I would give to take you for one now.”
“I wonder if I will ever be able to take you again or spend a pleasant Sunday afternoon at Bronte or Bondi.”
The letters had been hidden for more than 90 years and detailed life in the trenches, love, hope, hurt, change, compassion and mortality and were central in shaping my response to Gallipoli.
Throughout my works, skulls are a feature, suspended using string and other tethers to explore ideas about connection and division. I have used the skull of a wombat, emblematic, not only for their unique Australian-ess but also as representations of one of our other Australian ‘diggers’ (sharing trenches for protection). This fused representation with Gallipoli helped me to explore the complexity of ‘Gallipoli’.
A tie; (verb) to connect, join. restrain; a stalemate.
https://gallipoli.com.au/art-prize/alison-chiam/
Throughout my works, skulls are a feature, suspended using string and other tethers to explore ideas about connection and division. I have used the skull of a wombat, emblematic, not only for their unique Australian-ess but also as representations of one of our other Australian ‘diggers’ (sharing trenches for protection). This fused representation with Gallipoli helps me to explore the complexity of ‘Gallipoli’.