Objects to make memory manifest

THE emotional core behind the things we keep in our home is serving as the foundation for a Clunes-based creative’s local exhibition.

Launched at the Old Butcher’s Shop Gallery over the weekend and on show until 24 November, Philomena Carroll’s Memento is all about the personal meaning we prescribe to objects.

“It’s a bit of a nod to the vanitas or memento mori tradition where it’s a reminder life is short and ultimately fatal,” she said.

“I’ve sort of flipped it to turn it into painting items from my life and my son’s life, things that people have given us.

“They might be quite mundane objects but they’re held in great esteem by our family because of the meaning in relationship of the person who gave it to us.

“It’s about treasuring not the object, but the memory of the person we love who gave it to us.”

Comprising 31 oil paintings and about a dozen dry-point etchings, the collection’s still life subject matter depicts decades of iconography that harbours an emotional resonance for Carroll.

The works capture innocuous items such as a soft toy and dummy, which conjure memories for Carroll of her son’s birth, his time in neonatal intensive care, and the “magical reminder” of how he was resuscitated 14 times in two days.

Other pieces interpret objects like Carroll’s collection of 1950s-era Arthur Merric Boyd-made crockery, as well as works from her longtime friend, ceramicist Sam Varian.

The pair will co-present an artists’ talk at the gallery this Sunday from 3pm where they’ll discuss how their works have inspired each other’s output.

The exhibition is Carroll’s first still-life focused show in Ballarat after featuring as a finalist in the 2022 TACIT Still Life Prize in Abbotsford’s Tacit Art Gallery, and displaying the style for the Arts Open held across Mount Alexander Shire.

She first took to the subject matter about five years ago after creating primarily landscapes for 35 years, then learning under Castlemaine painter David Moore.

Carroll will be present at the gallery each weekend from 1pm to 4pm throughout November.