Two Portraits - Paris and Lara, Triptych 1984
I wanted to make an artwork about what it was like as a young woman growing up before the advent of the super model, just as an ordinary girl, with the pressure to be perfect.
This is about my own maturing and so it would not necessarily be the narrative for other young women but it was mine.
This was 1984 and as yet in Australia there was not the supermodel. The chosen girls were twins that another student during Post Graduate Studies at College of Design UNSW knew and said that as a twin photographer it would be a fantastic opportunity for me to photograph them. So it was arranged.
I realised that having two beautiful young women would make the message twice as strong and I explained what I was trying to say to them and their parents.
I hope that this is not lost in translation to contemporary society as at the time it was not fully understood by everyone who saw it. The original work is life sized and in a private collection.
Suellen Symons.
Shown Mori Gallery Catherine Street Leichhardt
“Killing Time” curated by Paul Hewson and Jo Holder
