River Geisha, 2019
As part of the Brisbane Street Art Festival 2019
Howard Smith Wharves, Brisbane, Queensland.
This work is part of my painted geisha series featuring suggestive self-portraits painted in a ukiyo-e style of Japanese prints. Fully recovered from 12 months of intensive treatment for breast cancer, the Brisbane Street Art Festival in March 2019 marked the point in time where I felt I was fit and able to return to large mural painting. Following on from a series of warrior portrait created during my chemotherapy sessions in 2018, this portrait features a Geisha with hair grown back, holding the locks of golden hair out exactly one year before this work was painted. She is wearing a kimono inspired by my mother's wedding kimono patterns, but instead of cranes the birds are switched with Ibis (or bin chickens) - an iconic Brisbane bird. Green patterns in the kimono fabric feature the medical symbol for 'cytotoxic' - the state you're in when you're in active treatment with chemotherapy. The temporary site for this work was poignant for me, as my mother, the first baby born to a Japanese war bride in Queensland, was rushed in an ambulance across the Story Bridge (in the background) as a premature infant, stopping the Queen in her procession to get to the hospital on time.
As part of the Brisbane Street Art Festival 2019
Howard Smith Wharves, Brisbane, Queensland.
This work is part of my painted geisha series featuring suggestive self-portraits painted in a ukiyo-e style of Japanese prints. Fully recovered from 12 months of intensive treatment for breast cancer, the Brisbane Street Art Festival in March 2019 marked the point in time where I felt I was fit and able to return to large mural painting. Following on from a series of warrior portrait created during my chemotherapy sessions in 2018, this portrait features a Geisha with hair grown back, holding the locks of golden hair out exactly one year before this work was painted. She is wearing a kimono inspired by my mother's wedding kimono patterns, but instead of cranes the birds are switched with Ibis (or bin chickens) - an iconic Brisbane bird. Green patterns in the kimono fabric feature the medical symbol for 'cytotoxic' - the state you're in when you're in active treatment with chemotherapy. The temporary site for this work was poignant for me, as my mother, the first baby born to a Japanese war bride in Queensland, was rushed in an ambulance across the Story Bridge (in the background) as a premature infant, stopping the Queen in her procession to get to the hospital on time.
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