Opening 6 pm Wednesday 27 May and ends 23 June.
“The appeal was instant; she could juice, peel, slice, open cans, sharpen knives, cook tuna mornay, make the beds, vacuum the floors and even polish the silver wear!”
I have always loved the design, icons and advertisements of the 1950s, being a keen collector of anything from this era. As such, I have explored the life of the housewife at this time, although a little tongue-in-cheek I must confess.
I wanted to experiment with a range of media, so I collected old objects such as tins, aprons, saucepans, hats and one incredibly upright vacuum! I dressed up my mum as the beautiful housewife and photographed her in a delicious cocktail of kitsch and totally derelict settings. This then progressed to the movie making with the drought inspired song “Singing in the rain”, reinforcing the 50s ideal of the stiff upper lip.
It might all seem swell at first, but as we look more closely at this dame’s life, we see it ain’t all peachy in this ‘ideal society’ where all women do is work – well domestic work that is…
Here are some happy snaps from the opening night!
