Lizzie Dennis has come a long way since leaving her post as a corporate lawyer in 2015. A mere year later, she already has her first solo exhibition lined up, A Kind of Suburban Fugue, at Melbourne’s Brunswick Street Gallery.
A self-taught colour pencil artist, Lizzie’s drawings depict detailed domestic interiors combined with figures and personal artefacts to tell the familiar narrative of a modern family.
Documenting her life as a wife and mother, each work is viewed through a female narrative and is intended to represent an unusual yet familiar environment, one that mothers often find themselves in when leaving paid work to stay at home and care for their families. Just like Lizzie did.
“Like so many other mothers, my identity was challenged after having my daughter. Whilst I love the domestic nature of my new role looking after her and my family, it is a challenging position to find yourself in after having worked, like I did, in a corporate job for many years. When I reflect on my drawings, the sense of loss of identity and resulting confusion in an altogether familiar environment was obvious to me.”
Working from her dining room table – her studio – Lizzie constructs each drawing by incorporating furniture and details from her own home, along with portraits of her daughter, Agnes, and husband, Matt, as they engage with the domestic space.
A Kind of Suburban Fugue will be at Brunswick Street Gallery from 10-to-23 June 2016.