Debra Porch and Friends, A Less Ordinary Legend

Abstract

Background This Catalogue Essay accompanied the exhibition Debra Porch and Friends, at Wolloongabba Art Gallery, Brisbane (6 Nov – 1 Dec 2018) that brought together artists who were mentees of Porch. Works on paper, paintings, objects, sculpture and video artworks were presented by 13 artists: Ali Bezer, Sophie Bottomley, Caitlin Franzmann, Chantal Fraser, Tor Maclean, Carol McGregor, Julie-Anne Milinski, Sonya G Peters, Zoe Porter, Leen Rieth, Kat Sawyer, Elizabeth Shaw and Justene Williams and included two recent text-based pieces by Porch and some earlier 2D works not previously shown. Contribution The essay explores the relationships between the artists and Debra Porch, a highly respected installation American Australian artist of Armenian heritage. Primary interviews and statements were gathered from the artists to determine the core connection with Porch’s practice that focused on place, mortality and memory and manifested from the everyday. The common threads discovered in the legacy of Porch’s art making sustained in these artists' practices are: a questioning of traditional forms of art making and exhibition; themes related to the body, memory, women’s work, the familial, or the domestic; poetic, slow, quiet and intimate expressions; materials and actions derived from the everyday; conversation or dialogue or collaboration within the artwork process; translation of the visual to sound and language and vice versa; feminist and social justice concerns; in-between states; and making art from what is at hand. Significance The essay is an important contribution to the history of Australian women’s art practice and documents the legacy of artistic mentors sustained in the practices of women artists. While some artists practices are well documented, some artists included in this exhibition have little written about their work and this essay documents their practices and includes it in the discourse of Australian art.