Fractured

Logan Moffat
Oil on canvas
2026
1520 x 1250 x 4 mm

Artist statement: Surrounded by the nostalgia of paintings from my childhood an older voice began to recite a poem that he was preparing to read at the following weeks ANZAC commemoration, though it was the fragments of family stories I was most eager to hear.  I found myself fixated on her—what was she thinking of it all? Were they forgotten memories? Was she even in the room?  I remembered watching the ravens atop Arthur’s seat in Edinburgh a few years earlier. I thought about my distant ancestors witnessing the same scene. In Scottish lore, ravens are messengers between worlds, symbols of wisdom, guardianship and the unknown. Here they conceal and reveal aspects of the painting as a reflection of the elusive nature of memory and my fractured connection to the past.  The scene is pieced together using sketches,
photographs, found imagery and digitally manipulated visuals. This painting is not intended to represent any one person but instead captures a personal and emotional response to a multitude of experiences through fragmented memories, in a search to reconnect with what is lost or forgotten.

This artwork is presented as part of BETWEEN US, a group exhibition at Depot Artspace bringing together 28 contemporary artists exploring figurative art and portraiture. View the full exhibition here.