daughter aid series 1999 - 2000

The daughter aid project critically examines my mythological positioning as the daughter of the late German artist, Joseph Beuys. Within this father/daughter relationship, I investigate a series of personal/political wounds. That is, as Beuys addresses the Second World War German wound of guilt, I am concerned with the historical wound of victimhood within my homeland, Poland. In establishing this historical framework, I also address the wound of female identity that has been suppressed by prominent father figures. More specifically, I ask, can a daughter have an identity of her own outside a defining patriarchal (father/daughter) relationship? This search is expressed through my artworks exploring my own Polish/Australian identities as strategies for dealing with Daddy when he happens to be Joseph Beuys.