Dreamchild

Images from the series Dreamchild

Fig. 1: Olympia as Lewis Carroll's Beatrice Hatch before White Cliffs 2003 - subject to much controversy

Fig. 2: Olympia as Lewis Caroll's Irene McDonald (it won't come smooth) 2002

Fig. 3: Olympia as Lewis Carroll's Xie Kitchin (sleeping on chais) 2003

Fig. 4: Olympia as Lewis Carroll's Xie Kitchin as a Chinaman on tea boxes (on duty) 2003

Images taken by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) of Alexandra Xie Kitchin in the late 1800's

Fig. 5: Xie Kitchin as a Chinaman - 1873

Fig. 6: Xie Kitchin with a Japanese umbrella - 1873

Fig. 7: Xie Kitchin as a tea merchant - 1873

Fig. 1, 2, 3 & 4 from the series Dreamchild, Polixeni Papapetrou's website, viewed September 25, 2012, http://www.polixenipapapetrou.net/works.php?cat=Dreamchild_2003

Fig. 5, 6 & 7 (Charles Lutwidge Dodgson images) from Art.com, viewed September 25, 2012, http://www.art.com/gallery/id--a82953/charles-lutwidge-dodgson-posters.htm?ui=4383641D2EF34DBE8AA95F85FD2AE9A6

Z. Stanhope 2003, "Serious Play" 2003, viewed September 25, 2012, http://www.polixenipapapetrou.net/text.php?txt=ZS_SeriousPlay&cat=On_Dreamchild

About the artist

Fig. 1

• Australian contemporary photographer.
• Born in Melbourne in 1960.
• Lives and works in Melbourne.
• Studied many different degrees, including Master of Arts in Media Arts at RMIT Melbourne in 1997.
• Nearly 50 solo exhibitions nationally and internationally.
• Exlores themes including gender identity, sexualisation, childhood and human relationships (as addressed in Rex Butler's article on the artist, and in an essay written by Papapetrou regarding her series Curated Bodies).
• Known most for her series Between Worlds from 2009.

Fig. 2: The Wanderer 2009 - from Between Worlds

Fig. 3: The Loners 2009 - from Between Worlds

• Represented by Stills Gallery in Sydney, where many of her pieces are presented.

Fig. 3: Stills Gallery, Sydney

Fig. 1: Australian Centre for Photography 2011 flickr, viewed September 24, 2012, http://www.flickr.com/photos/acpgallery/5516462098/

Fig. 2 & 3: Polixeni Papapetrou's website, viewed September 24, 2012, http://www.polixenipapapetrou.net/works.php?cat=Between_Worlds_2009

Fig. 4: Stills Gallery, Sydney, viewed September 24, 2012, http://www.stillsgallery.com.au/gallery/

Stills Gallery, Sydney, viewed September 24, 2012, http://www.stillsgallery.com.au/artists/papapetrou/index.php?obj_id=about&nav=0

Butler R 2001 "Polixeni Papapetrou", 2001, viewed September 27, 2012, http://polixenipapapetrou.net/text.php?txt=RB_PolixeniPapapetrou&cat=On_Polixeni_Papapetrou

Papapetrou P 1996, "On Curated Bodies" 1996, published by the Centre for Contemporary Photography, 26 pages.

Introduction

An introduction to my Research An Image assignment for Photography Studies College. I'm doing Polixeni Papapetrou's photo Olympia as Lewis Carroll's Xie Kitchin as a Chinaman (Off Duty).

Fig. 1

As mentioned in the video, I never liked this photo. It was on display in the Geelong Gallery for a number of years so I've seen it a number of times. I wanted to know about what the themes and ideas behind it are so that I have better views about it.
At the moment, I see the image being about an exploration of a tradition (Chinese heritage). The props Papapetrou has used all look fairly typical for what I would imagine when I think of that kind of culture, with the vibrant reds and blue and floral patterns. I feel that the artist is expressing perhaps part of her own heritage in the making of this image. She may have some kind of Chinese influence in her history and the photo is her way of paying a homage to that background. As it has fairly typical scenery for what you'd expect from Chinese traditions, I think she used them deliberately to make her audience immediately identify what it is she's trying to bring across.



Fig. 1: Olympia as Lewis Carroll's Xie Kitchin as a Chinaman (off duty), Polixeni Papapetrou's website, viewed September 14, 2012, http://www.polixenipapapetrou.net/works.php?cat=Dreamchild_2003