Fiona Macpherson, ‘We don’t talk about that here’, 2022. Oil on canvas, 183 x 136cm. Image courtesy: the artist.

Artist statement

‘We don’t talk about that here’ speaks to the cognitive dissonance surrounding the presence of trauma in photographic archives that is otherwise invisible from the surface. The large scale oil painting depicts a childhood image of myself with my grandfather and a handwritten message from him, using painting techniques of inversion, distortion and erasure to navigate a personal narrative whilst denying the subject of expected representation.

Instagram handle: @rnadness