"Louie was 13 when we started making the photographs two years ago, and I thought we’d continue until he was 18. Then we would go through all the photos and let him work out which photos were ok for a book. Eventually I realised that there was a show in that body of work. For this exhibition I’ve done a lot of experimentation – there are tapestries, lenticular prints, collages and an image that I’ve drawn on as well as a number of photographs. All of the works are portraits of Louie - but like many of my past series, the subject is more or less unrecognisable. I also started seeing similarities between photos I had taken of Louie, and photos I had taken for the series Bunny[2008]. So I started combining photos of Gwen [from the Bunny series] with some of the photos of Louie – for the show these became 3 lenticular prints." – Polly Borland
Selected Works
Selected Works
archival pigment print
100 × 80 cm
archival pigment print
35 × 28 cm
lenticular print
61 × 95cm
lenticular print
61 × 93 cm
archival pigment print
75 × 60 cm
tapestry
95 × 77 cm
tapestry
95 × 77 cm
Borland wants things to be difficult to look at – her photographs are contradictorily beautiful and disturbing – reminiscent of traditional portraiture with a nod to the surreal. Borland’s work displays a fascination with people, exploring private questions of identity from the inside out, and turning her lens on the complex and ineffable. Experiencing these images is at once deeply engaging and somewhat repelling, it’s as though Borland has ex- posed our deepest self-doubts for all to see. This series was initially a project with her teenage son Louie, after moving to LA.
Sullivan+Strumpf acknowledge the Indigenous People of this land, the traditional custodians on whose Country we work, live and learn. We pay respect to Elders, past and present, and recognise their continued connection to culture, land, waters and community.