Elisa Markes-Young - Mixed Media (b. Poland)A visitor to one of Elisa Markes-Young’s earlier exhibitions – The Slow Infinity of Dreaming – remarked that the series reminded her of Polish folklore. The comment surprised her as the series essentially dealt with the Australian landscape. She had to think of this comment whilst working on What I Am – a series that looked extensively at her identity and sense of place. Elisa has now been in Australia for over 5 years, but she still continues to feel a stranger, an outsider, not understanding and not understood. Although geographically at home in WA, it’s the Poland of her childhood – as she remembers it – that is most comforting. This realisation comes somewhat unexpected, as after living in Germany for over 20 years she considered herself more German than Polish. “The German reservedness comes more naturally to me than the Polish sentimentality. The Polish language is beautiful, emotive and highly onomatopoeic but the precision of German is unsurpassed. I love (and miss) the proverbial German efficiency and the cool methodic approach.” But as the feeling of homelessness continues, it’s her nostalgic memories of Poland – its landscapes, colours and pictures she associates with it – that define a true sense of home. Her origins seem to increasingly influence her work, most noticeably Long Departed Landscapes. These Landscapes are not necessarily a physical space although “the mountainous countryside I grew up in with its weeping willows, streams, lakes and fields of poppies play an important part in my memories. The countless old churches are an inseparable part of this picture. As are the tiny chapels by the roadside populated by sorrowful Jesus figures, decorated with paper flowers and candles…” The artworks are instead much more about a time and a place where hospitality and the celebration of food were at the centre of all things. “The importance and sacredness of food was reflected in the blessings of the fields, grain wreaths and food. At Christmas one place was always set and left empty for an unexpected wanderer. Both stranger and friend were always welcome and never let go without a meal. Food was at the heart of every celebration and guests were welcomed with the holiest of foods – the bread.” The work is an attempt to reconstruct the place as Elisa remembers it and, more importantly, how she feels about it. More information about Elisa's work can be seen on her website. Major Bodies of WorkThe Strange Quiet of Things Misplaced (2007/10) |
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