Baby

Louise Marmont

'Baby'

 

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drawing on paper (graphite, charcoal, conte, pastel)

1400mm x 860mm 

$2,400

 

"It has been a surprise and a challenge for me to have moved towards more figurative work in the last few years. I relate it to ageing and the simplicity of our all sharing in one thing - a body and relationships. With the overwhelm and dismay of what seems to be the ever-increasing horrors of the world we are currently in, I found one of the figures I was working on evolved into a series on “Soldiers”. While they contain a lot of pain, and aggression, they also shift into a softer relinquishing, shame, even remorse and vulnerability. A de-idealization of a destructive aggressive strength. I wondered about the sources of this aggression (along with the power and greed of war ) and continued with my readings and reflections and the “Baby” series evolved.

It was interesting to discover the role of most babies in the Western history of art as being all male and either representing the Christ child, or putti and cupids. But as I endeavoured to move the focus from the/my adult’s ‘idea’ and idealization of the baby to the baby’s infantile experiences per se, I found them very challenging and frustrating. While these drawings serve to reflect the external world, I also see them as representations of our own internal ‘soldiers’ and ‘babies’- and to know and understand our/my own as one way of coming to terms with the tension, uncertainty and overwhelm of surviving our times".

Louise Marmont