Nightshade

• Prize
  Bronze in Book/Fine Art
• Photographer
  Wendy Catling
• Technical Info
  Exposed Section Sewn Soft Cover, Published By M.33 (melbourne), 192 Pages, Edition Of 150, 28 X 21cm
• Photo Date
  2022

Nightshade explores domestic abuse and intergenerational trauma through the relationship of my parents. During a tumultuous 20 years, they lived at more than 10 different addresses. At first, my mother tried to escape my father’s stalking; then she was forced to marry when she became pregnant. Even at the worst times and living in decrepit small rental houses she would make a garden. Since my father’s early death in a car accident, she has lived a more stable and happy life, volunteering in natural bush reserves, to remove environmental weeds and promote the growth of native native plants.

Wendy Catling (she/her) is an Australian visual artist working primarily in the medium of photography. Motivated by personal and family histories, the artist takes a reparative approach to the complexities and tensions of human relationships. Her work focuses on shame, memory, power, and intergenerational trauma. She employs alternative, vernacular and studio photography, video and installation practices.