By Emily McCaul
Unique
‘Home 2 is part of a series of paintings I created as a way to tentatively explore and externalise some of the unnamed and unacknowledged feelings from growing up in my family home. When I was painting this series, I was dealing with some challenging circumstances in my everyday life. I was rather emotionally exhausted and had become more protective of my feelings. I found myself wanting to make work that was gentler in the experience of making it and in its communication. I wanted to create images that were subtler, quieter, and not share so explicitly. This painting is based on a real photograph of me, my brother and my mother. It represents a snapshot in time and offers a glimpse into a moment behind the closed doors of the family home. For some of us, the home can be a place where experiences and internal feelings are never able to be spoken about or seen, and therefore remain invisible to the world. All the paintings in the series that Home 2 is from are made in the same way. The frame is part of the work, and the canvas is organza. The translucency and delicacy of the work represent ideas about exposure and are reminiscent of photographic negatives or windows. For me, making these paintings was about exposing real moments while, at the same time, beginning to understand, process, and communicate feelings from my past through how I painted them.’ -McCaul
By Emily McCaul
Unique
‘Home 2 is part of a series of paintings I created as a way to tentatively explore and externalise some of the unnamed and unacknowledged feelings from growing up in my family home. When I was painting this series, I was dealing with some challenging circumstances in my everyday life. I was rather emotionally exhausted and had become more protective of my feelings. I found myself wanting to make work that was gentler in the experience of making it and in its communication. I wanted to create images that were subtler, quieter, and not share so explicitly. This painting is based on a real photograph of me, my brother and my mother. It represents a snapshot in time and offers a glimpse into a moment behind the closed doors of the family home. For some of us, the home can be a place where experiences and internal feelings are never able to be spoken about or seen, and therefore remain invisible to the world. All the paintings in the series that Home 2 is from are made in the same way. The frame is part of the work, and the canvas is organza. The translucency and delicacy of the work represent ideas about exposure and are reminiscent of photographic negatives or windows. For me, making these paintings was about exposing real moments while, at the same time, beginning to understand, process, and communicate feelings from my past through how I painted them.’ -McCaul
