Lauren Starr
Born 1981, Bendigo, Victoria
Midas’ Daughter II – Golden Still Life, 2022
photographic print, AP
87 x 120 cm
Gift of an Anonymous Donor, 2023
Image credit: Image courtesy of the artist.
Visual description:
This photographic work shows a single human figure, a child, lying on the ground, within a dense surface of foliage. The entire scene is rendered in rich metallic gold tones, including the figure’s body and the surrounding leaves, as though everything in the image has been painted or made from gold. The child is naked except for a loosely draped cloth at the waist, lying back with closed eyes and arms resting close to the torso. Her hair is softly sprawling around her head, and in her hands, she softly holds a golden apple.
Curator’s insights:
Award-winning Bendigo artist Lauren Starr created this portrait of her young daughter using an analogue process of physically placing painted objects in a scene, and photographing it from above using a ladder, rather than digitally layering and building the complex image. The image and title reference the allegorical Greek myth of King Midas, who accidentally turned his daughter to gold by embracing her – losing his greatest love in his insatiable pursuit of material wealth. The history of Bendigo, and women’s stories, are recurring themes in Starr’s creative practice. The cautionary message in the myth of King Midas prompts reflection on the devastation caused by the pursuit of gold in Bendigo’s own story.
Starr reflects on her daughter’s trust in the process:
“When you look closely, her body is actually covered in goosebumps and I love the juxtaposition of her serenity against the raised flesh. Did she know the second before she was turned into gold that something was about to happen? I'm urged to compare her utter trust with the love that Midas' daughter had for her father. How completely trusting and dependent all of our children are on us and what it is we do with that power and responsibility.”