Face to face in this Time

Inspired by screenshot’s of my family in the Netherlands on WhatsApp video communication, I created a series of 50 small A6 watercolour portraits. Australia’s closed borders added tension to an otherwise already unreliable way of digitally communicating, as we do not know when we can see each other again. However, during our weekly hours on facetime, I became fascinated with the beauty of the unplanned images, the crazy angles, the raw emotion, the blurring, hiccups and pausing. I decided to make one portrait a week of our communication, representing every week since the borders closed. My mother’s hospitalisation for two months during this project deepened the tension and the narrative. By translating these WhatsApp video screenshots of my mother, brother, sister and me into a series of small permanent watercolour portraits, I hope to create a sensitive snapshot in time of my family trying to stay connected and supportive of each other during this pandemic.