Polixeni Papapetrou - Phantomwise

In Phantomwise, Polixeni Papapetrou explores the representation of childhood through the production of photographs of her 5 year old daughter, Olympia.

Olympia is photographed wearing a variety of half masks which conceal her face from above the nose, but allow her mouth and ears to be revealed. Papapetrou is interested in the way her female child portrays herself and how she explores the boundaries of her body, gender, ethnicity and class through dress and performance before the camera. The project takes on Olympia's imaginative experimentation with roles, archetypes, and performance. In so doing, the work inevitably refers to the representation of children in art and society while also raising questions regarding the portrayal of the 'real' and the 'imaginary'.

Papapetrou is currently enrolled in PhD programme at Monash University 2002. She has had many solo and group shows in Australia and her work is held in major public and private collections.