Lara Chamas | Stairway | digital print on matte paper | 2017
I first saw that small rug and noticed it had been worn through down the bottom where the feet and knees go. It’s my grandmothers rug, the only thing my dad has left of her. I thought how many times did she pray on it to wear it down the ground? How many times did she seek refuge here? How much hope, how much faith, how much sanctuary? The shapes ripped out of the bottom of the print are shapes I’ve drawn, based off the original rugs damage.
Lara Chamas is a first-generation Lebanese non-indigenous Australian artist, based in Melbourne. Her practise investigates sub topics of postcolonial and migrant narratives, specifically within the context of her cultural identity. Her practise explores this in relation to contemporary Australian and global society, and current political issues. Currently a completing her Masters by research in Fine Art at Monash University, through the use of narrative and experience documentation, storytelling, oral history / orally transmitted information, and historical texts; her research intends to explore links between narrative theory, cultural practice, current politics, the body as a sculptural, oral and political vessel. Included in this is personal experience and family history, to relate to contemporary issues in Australian society surrounding bi-culturality and assimilation.
https://www.instagram.com/lara_chamas_artist
