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Alex Davern |
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Joy Clements – Doc
Last year I became interested in self-portraiture and how to represent myself without necessarily painting a physical likeness. This piece of work is part of a continuing exploration I have begun into how people and things in my life define me and can collectively represent who I am. As part of this exploration I wanted to paint a picture of my guardian, the Rev. Dr David Mitchell, who has played a hugely significant role in my life and personal development. Since ‘adopting’ me as a fourteen-year-old with behavioural problems, he has guided and assisted me into becoming the happy and successful young person I am today. I also wanted to paint a portrait of ‘Doc’ because he is an extremely interesting person with a fascinating history. During the past five years he has shared many exciting stories with me about his time spent in the Australian army and Intelligence Service, heading the legal department of Lisutu in Africa, as a father and grandfather and more! Doc has lived interstate and abroad and studied at Cambridge, Oxford and Essex, but is a fourth-generation Tasmanian and ‘has the scar’. He spends much of his ‘retirement’ in Tasmania providing legal aid for those who can’t afford it. During my research I was inspired by Hanz Holbein to incorporate objects that represent some of Doc’s defining characteristics and interests (e.g. law books, Tasmanian degrees and family photos) in my work. I also chose to paint in a more traditional style than I usually do because Doc really enjoys traditional art. He is usually camera-shy, so I arranged to take photos one afternoon while we were having an ordinary conversation in his office. I really like the fact that the image I used just captured a typical moment in one of our talks.
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