Sanctum Familia draws on archival theory underscoring the nature of archival materials as found yet constructed, factual yet fictive and public yet private to explore childhood and ‘nostalgia in prospect’ through a collage painting practice. The paintings are a coarse re-imagining of the yearly calendars my mother makes featuring scrapbooked photos of ourseemingly ‘picturesque’ family. In reflection of how the past informs the present, the work speaks to idealisation and denigration of childhood. Sanctae Familiae is the name given to a feast day celebrating the Holy Family depicted historically as an example of perfection to strive towards. However, contrary to the temptation to stain childhood memories with ‘good’ stories of an ‘ideal’ family or ‘bad’ stories of a ‘hapless’ upbringing, we are all a mixture of perplexing ambivalence where there are no ‘sinners and saints.’ Just people and memories. The portraits and faint text in the composition portray various memories and images from my own childhood for which I have both a fondness and antipathy. The slow collaging and abstracting painterly process and figurative nature of the paintings allow for deep personal engagement with and contemplation of the images. However, removing them from their personal context and into the broader contemporary discourse allow these memories to be analysed and seen anew, becoming a vessel for reflection on the misleading effects of memory and their impact on how we view ourselves in light of our past and who we were brought up with.
