Photographers
|
Lisa Tomasetti
Her new work in Burnt Memory builds on this theme, examining the representation of
women and children in the history of art, but also challenging assumptions about class and race.
Referencing Old Master paintings, Tomasetti uses indigenous women and children from
different cultures to replace the traditional ‘white middle-class’ sitter of previous centuries.
The sitters, carefully selected by the artist for their ‘stillness’, are placed in large, empty spaces evoking the repressive effects of a colonial past and creating haunting portraits which tackle issues of displacement and colonialisation. Dramatically lit, and rich in colour, the large-scale photographs have a beautiful, painterly style reminiscent of the work of Caravaggio and Vermeer, the result of a collaboration between the artist and Oscar-nominated cinematographer Seamus McGarvey (Atonement, The Hours).
Of her first UK exhibition, Lisa Tomasetti says: ‘Burnt Memory is concerned with childhood memory and innocence and how we can sometimes recreate rather than recall our childhood. I am also examining the complicity of colonial era photography and art in the creation of stereotypes of black womanhood. Some of my images also recall Orientalist paintings in which young women were exoticized as objects of colonial fantasy. Other photographs strip back the complex layers of cultural reference to show strong, defiant women.’ Lisa Tomasetti's work has been acquired by all of the major Australian public art collections and also many private collectors including Cate Blanchett, whom Tomasetti photographed on the set of Little Fish. Other celebrities featured in her film-still work include Kylie Minogue, Ewan McGregor, Geena Davies, Dennis Hopper and
George Lucas.
Lisa Tomasetti has exhibited extensively in Australia and has worked all over the world. In the early 1990s she worked as a production photographer with the Royal Court, London, and the Abbey Theatre Company in Dublin. In 1992, Tomasetti was awarded the Australia Council for the
Arts studio residency in Besozo, Italy, for 3 months. In 2002, her book First Kiss was published by Allen & Unwin. In autumn 2008 she was the tour photographer for The Australian Ballet Company whose dancers, including some of her subjects in Burnt Memory, performed at Sadlers Wells last
October.
women and children in the history of art, but also challenging assumptions about class and race.
Referencing Old Master paintings, Tomasetti uses indigenous women and children from
different cultures to replace the traditional ‘white middle-class’ sitter of previous centuries.
The sitters, carefully selected by the artist for their ‘stillness’, are placed in large, empty spaces evoking the repressive effects of a colonial past and creating haunting portraits which tackle issues of displacement and colonialisation. Dramatically lit, and rich in colour, the large-scale photographs have a beautiful, painterly style reminiscent of the work of Caravaggio and Vermeer, the result of a collaboration between the artist and Oscar-nominated cinematographer Seamus McGarvey (Atonement, The Hours).
Of her first UK exhibition, Lisa Tomasetti says: ‘Burnt Memory is concerned with childhood memory and innocence and how we can sometimes recreate rather than recall our childhood. I am also examining the complicity of colonial era photography and art in the creation of stereotypes of black womanhood. Some of my images also recall Orientalist paintings in which young women were exoticized as objects of colonial fantasy. Other photographs strip back the complex layers of cultural reference to show strong, defiant women.’ Lisa Tomasetti's work has been acquired by all of the major Australian public art collections and also many private collectors including Cate Blanchett, whom Tomasetti photographed on the set of Little Fish. Other celebrities featured in her film-still work include Kylie Minogue, Ewan McGregor, Geena Davies, Dennis Hopper and
George Lucas.
Lisa Tomasetti has exhibited extensively in Australia and has worked all over the world. In the early 1990s she worked as a production photographer with the Royal Court, London, and the Abbey Theatre Company in Dublin. In 1992, Tomasetti was awarded the Australia Council for the
Arts studio residency in Besozo, Italy, for 3 months. In 2002, her book First Kiss was published by Allen & Unwin. In autumn 2008 she was the tour photographer for The Australian Ballet Company whose dancers, including some of her subjects in Burnt Memory, performed at Sadlers Wells last
October.
