The Maria Roberts Series

Issues of women, history and identity are the keynote of Janet Goodchild-Cuffley's exhibition of well-crafted oil and acrylic paintings. And because it takes as its starting point her great-great-great-grandmother, Maria Roberts, a convict who arrived at Port Jackson in 1815, there is a sense of ownership of the material.

Post-colonial concerns regarding invasion and guilt, and the separation, alienation and dislocation of convict women, have been rendered more immediate and personal through the empathy a descendant might extend to the experience of one who was there.

Goodchild-Cuffley uses direct references to the motifs of Australian Colonial painting as a foil to express her ideas gently but with some humour. Much more subtle and layered than postmodern pastiche, these works reward contemplation.

Maria Roberts page 1 / Maria Roberts page 2 / Maria Roberts Notes