VISITING photographer Tanja Bruckner has spent the last couple of weeks as an artist in residence with the Broken Hill Art Exchange, exhibiting her work in the Kitchen Gallery in the courtyard behind the Grand Hotel.
She said she’d heard of Broken Hill’s art exchange program through her friend, Art Exchange president Susanne Rae Jones, and was excited at the prospect of exhibiting her photos regionally.
“I had the opportunity to work on a new project as part of the artist residency and to exhibit this work,” Bruckner said.
“I like the idea of bringing this project to regional areas. I had a lot of feedback in regional Victoria of older women really loving seeing themselves represented and even to the point that one woman came back every single day with another friend to show her.”
The photograph she talks about is of her friend Annie and was recently exhibited as part of an International Women’s Day installation at the Sydney Opera House.
“This is of my friend, Annie, who got into artmaking later in life, in her 80s,” she said.
“And it really changed her.
“I wanted to show the joy of being an older woman and despite aging and all the things that happen in life, every day can be joyful.
“I think especially artmaking helps.”
Bruckner said working in commercial photography. she felt that women were limited in the way they were represented.
“I get sick of seeing the same things all the time,” she said.
“I think older women aren’t represented to their full potential, even though they’re consumers of beauty and fashion.”
Bruckner said Annie’s portrait was inspired by a Baroque artist called Artemisia Gentileschi.
“She was the only woman back then to be involved in commercial art and painting,” she said.
“And she did a painting of a woman kind of reclining in a quiet moment of inclination to make art, which was the inspiration for this piece.”
Bruckner said the photo displays the beauty of flaws.
“I want to see reality sometimes, I don’t want to see things covered up,” she said.
“You can be beautiful with flaws.”
Bruckner will be in residence with the Art Exchange and exhibiting at the Kitchen Gallery which is behind the old Grand Hotel on Argent Street, in the Deli Cafe courtyard.
