Peter Daverington, Raft of the Clan, oil and enamel on canvas, 260 x 397cm.
An interview with PETER DAVERINGTON's on his epic painting commission 'Raft of the Clan' has been featured on Daily Review. The work was recently unveiled by former Prime Minister Julia Gilliard at Parliament House, Canberra and commissioned by Care Leavers Australasia Network.
In the interview, Peter describes the creative process behind his work: "It was a very hard brief to be given. How do you represent institutional child sexual abuse? It’s really an impossible task. It took me a long time to reflect upon before I came up with a suitable approach. I focused on the idea of survival and chose the metaphor of a raft at sea to represent that. I wanted to make a painting that was victorious over the predators, an image of strength, pride, activism and defiance. A big part of my work is to look through art history and engage with the lineage of traditional masters in the craft of painting. So I went in search of raft paintings. I settled on Théodore Géricault’s The Raft of the Medusa, which portrayed French sailors abandoned by the government as they cling to life on a makeshift raft at sea. I saw a strong connection there. Our countries children were abandoned by the very government that was entrusted with their care, left to fend for themselves against predators who hide beneath the cover of religion and state."