Justine Mc Namara

I was actually conceived in a caravan...somewhere along the coast in Northern Queensland.

I lived in 28 different houses before I left home to study at 18- as the daughter of a builder, and

we camped on the beach every summer when we were young.

I cannot deny the influence of my transient upbringing on my interest in the concept of 'freedom

in the temporary'...and it is something that I am working through in my current paintings.

I also believe that...as a society...we often choose to idealise the past...regardless of detail.

Childhood holidays provide a link to both of these themes and allow me to tell a personal story

that hopefully resonates with the viewers own memories.

The caravans symbolise community and the family unit in a temporary state of happiness. This

atmosphere is devoid of any long term commitment.

By not including any figures in my caravan works...I am wanting the cars and caravans to

represent the life that is held within.They become the vessels for such things as..freedom

and confinement.....happiness and loneliness....simplicity and complexity....love and uncertainty

and the security that comes with the familiar.

I also enjoy reworking old 1950's illustrations that celebrate and support my thoughts on how we

romanticise the past...as these times were typically depicted as innocent and cheery.

I have two young daughters, who have helped spark the journey to my childhood series as I find

myself revisiting my own childhood....and idealising it!

I love to paint objects or treasures from my past...an old trike or a billy cart...things that I had to

give up as a consequence of the many moves..and other objects that I never had..but desperately

wanted....as perhaps a way to process my feelings of loss..and reconnect with innocence.

I get great pleasure from creating my paintings and I continue to enjoy the opportunity I have to

revisit and to reinvent aspects of my own childhood memories.