THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
2006 Whitecliffe College End of Year Exhibition
Rimu, matai, kauri and pine slabs, wax, acrylic, pastel, oil & screen printing
1m sq

A expressive piece, the elephant in the room is uncomfortably large, squashed into a tiny space, creating a nuisance to all those around it, both heavy and solid, both bold, and shy, it is exposed.
The elephant in the room is a memory of my life, poetry of my saddest moments highlight the walls, it is about the moments in life everyone comes across but no one discusses. The elephant in the room is about losing your loved one, and wanting to scream from the mountain tops that has happened, it is here in this room with us, it is cancer the of your mother, the disability of your family, or the suicide of your friend, it is losing your baby sister after you watched her with illness, it is the loss of your daughter. The elephant is in the room, the elephant is here, and it is with us.

This piece is like a large distracting self exposing portrait, it looks at the lines and swirls of a life... of my life. It is about a sixteen year old child looking for comfort through loss, and realising that to others loss and pain simply represent an elephant in the room, it is not easy to look in the face, it is easier to look away. I realised however that you cannot shift to hide from it, so I chose to expose it.