Michelle FRANTOM
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Title: The Spoils of War
Medium: print of digital drawing Dimensions: 87 x 130 cm This work evolved from two aspects of my relationship with WW 2. The first is a primal response to the mutilation of the human body that occurs during warfare. The second is a psychological relationship with WW 2 as a result of being raised by my grandparents who survived 5 years of war in occupied Holland. Although they emigrated to Australia in the 1950s, the war continued to dominate their thoughts and was regularly a topic of conversation around the dinner table. They were a young couple when the war began - it negatively affected the remainder of their long lives. Their response to war can be summed up in one word: subversive. My grandfather was a conscientious objector and my grandmother worked for the resistance. The rhetoric around war is at best confusing - at worst – evil propaganda. It causes a split in the cultural psyche. We want to support those who fight for us but in our hearts we know war is wrong. ‘The Spoils of War’ is a play on words - an unveiled criticism of the damage even victory cannot repair. Dr. Michelle Frantom completed her PhD in Visual Art in 2014. Over a 30 year career she has participated in many group exhibitions, coordinated community arts projects, delivered workshops, undertaken commissions and given public talks. Michelle is currently employed as an art educator for Curtin University as well as a lecturer in design and media at Great Southern Institute of Technology. Combining traditional techniques with digital media, her artwork continues to focus on the archetypes that underpin the human condition. |
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