jean claire martin, self portrait, 2018. Digitally scanned negative, 120mm black and white film.
jean claire martin (BFA Hons1) is a queer artist, currently living and creating in Meanjin - on the lands of the Turrbal and Jagera People. Sovereignty was never ceded . This Always Was and Always Will Be Aboriginal Land.
An Expanded Documentary and Fine Art Photographer, jean works within the realm of memory and identity, examining the role that intergenerational memory plays in how we identify with both who we are and with others - the idea that memory can be shared, inherited or even acquired through association is a common thread throughout their work.
Since 2016 jean has been working with women to better understand the dynamics of matrilineal relationships and their impact on individual identity. The development of this project through an Honours year of study in 2018 saw a shift in focus, specifically honing in on the experiences inside jean’s own familial unit. Creating a body of work that provided evidence of the impact intergenerational relationships have on the individual, revealing the old adage of history repeating itself in the broken-down relationships encountered. That project sought to communicate a common thread of what it is to identify with femininity, creating a dialogue with other women, the aim was to reveal how they each relate to their mother, how being a mother had altered their perception of being a woman and their individual experiences with the transition from daughter to woman, into motherhood and beyond.
jean is currently exploring identity in relation to the individual experience, through community engagement via creative workshops in Brisbane, Western Sydney and Darwin, NT.
Presenting to the community this idea of self as insular, the intention is to garner a response, and tease out a collective experience that exposes a common humanity.