Cancer is merely one chapter of my life… It is not the whole story and definitely not the end….. The end is a long way off and the in between is full of happily ever after…..Livonne
So, finally at the end of the exhibition chapters is Chapter 6, Just One Bite…. This chapter is another sculpture with an image again. It talks of my recent bout with breast cancer. There is a large poisoned apple in a glass coffin, with the apple representing cancer. Snow White (me) lives on to make many, many more images, stories, mistakes and memories. While it was a shock to the system to be diagnosed, it is just one part of a much bigger story and definitely not the most important. The important part of this chapter is the fact that I am still here, I am well and I am happy.. That’s the take away from this chapter.
Again thank you to Brigitte Grant Photography for her images of the sculpture at the exhibition and for collaborating with me to make this image of me as Snow White.
All I want is a room somewhere. Far away from the cold night air. With one enormous chair. Oh wouldn’t it be lovely…….Eliza Doolittle
So we’re up to Chapter 5.. and it is a bit different from the others as it is based around a sculpture, though still has my trademark photography in it. It talks about my displacement of home and how difficult it is to find suitable housing in Australia if you don’t have a high income. You are often at the mercy of unscrupulous landlords or neighbours who not only threaten your right to a peaceful existence, but also your physical and mental health. Again, it is told as a fairytale and the image attached is the newspaper that laid over the top of my person sculpture.
This chapter is entitled, Ladybird, Ladybird, fly away home. The smoke’s getting thick and the cameras are on. (Many thanks to Brigitte Grant Photography for the image of the sculpture)
I put my arms around you and I hold you.. But then I wake and empty arms still make me weep….Livonne
So, continuing on from today’s post, this is Chapter 3 of From Fractured to Fairytale. This chapter is entitled “All the King’s Horses and All the King’s Men, Couldn’t Put Mummy Together Again” and is about grief after the loss of my daughter on an access visit.
My model for this series was the wonderful Annalie. It’s not easy for these young ladies to show such a deep understanding for the traumatic subjects they are working with, but they all did it amazing, with Annalie bringing the emptiness of grief to the images. I’m so grateful to these ladies for being so wonderful.
Don’t Say Those WordsBroken StringsTornA River of TearsThe Eternal Winter of the HeartWhy?Where I Used to Have a HeartGoodnight Blossom
How can you stand beside the grave of pain and broken dreams. Oblivious to what you’ve done and ignore my silent screams…..Livonne
A long while ago I wrote in From Fractured to Fairytale part1 about the joint exhibition I had just been in and how I’d made a chapter of my life as a fairytale. I promised in that post that I would do 4 chapters of my life and present them for an exhibition. Well that has happened.. In May 2019, From Fractured to Fairytale the exhibition finally came alive. I’d had a few obstacles thrown in my way between that first chapter and the final outcome. There is now 6 chapters.. that should tell you something. But it is finally done.
This chapter I’m sharing with you today is about domestic violence, not a pretty subject but one that needs to be discussed. I had the beautiful Tiana as my model and she brought a wisdom well beyond her years to this shoot. When I’d finished shooting and uploaded the images to Lightroom, I was blown away by the emotion on her face and knew they would turn out to be an incredible set of images. Thank you Tiana.
So here is Chapter 2 of From Fractured to Fairytale entitled “How Many Flicks Till The Fly Flew Away?”
She knew she couldn’t calm the storm, so she calmed herself. She bravely turned her face to the skies and allowed it to carry her away. She embraced it. She accepted it. She became one with it. She was tossed and torn by it but never gave up. She learned from it. She survived. When it was over, she was thrown back into the water. She knew she could never be the same again. She didn’t want to be. She had endured the tempest and won. She faced tomorrow with strength and dignity……..Livonne
And it all came to this! This page has been very quiet over the last year or so. It’s been a crazy time. I started working on the story of my life, with all it’s twists and turns, in the form of a fairy tale back in 2016.
Whilst in the middle of planning the next chapters and making props and sculptures for it, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. During treatment and recovery I pushed on to finish all the photography I needed to build the images and am still finishing the editing on that.
And now, it’s only just over 2 months until exhibition, so the pressure is on to get everything organised to do it credit. There are 6 chapters to this story and they deal with childhood sexual abuse, domestic violence, grief over the loss of a child, mental illness, displacement of home and cancer. Sounds gloomy doesn’t it? But it’s really not.
Told in the form of a fairytale with each section having it’s own setting which explains what helped me get back up and keep going, it is full of hope. It is a fully immersive exhibition where you get to walk through a story book and into new worlds. There are lots of things to see, feel, original music to hear and lots of other experiences.
Hopefully the viewer will be left feeling inspired knowing that life can always get better and happiness is our birthright. It is told as a fairytale as I have always identified with them. They were my safe place as a child when awful things were happening and they are still my safe place today.
The dates of the exhibition are particularly significant. It opens on May 1st which is my angel daughter’s 34th birthday and a year to the day since I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It closes on 27th May which is the 24th anniversary of my angel daughter’s death. These 27 days are usually hell on earth for me, full of sadness and ‘what ifs’. This year they will be spent celebrating the roller coaster that has been my life, of which she has been such a huge part of.
My precious granddaughter was born on 31st May and from the day she was born I knew I had to make May a month of celebration again. She deserves that and I know her angel auntie would say that’s exactly how it should be. So the 27th of May this year closes the book of unending grief and I begin a new story of celebration and hope. The grief will never go away but it will be used to create rather than to destroy.
The exhibition will be held at Wild Valley Art Park which is located at 321 Blaxland Road Wentworth Falls NSW from 1st – 27th of May 2019. It will be open Wednesday through to Sundays but appointments can be made on other days. This is a brief video to give an idea of what to expect. Special thanks to Nick from Filmclass Pictures for the fantastic video
Writing your own Happily Ever After – A story of survival & hope.
Livonne Imagery 