Artist’s Statement
This video work was inspired by old photographs I discovered of my nana and grandad when they were young. I was drawn to the photograph of my nana at the beach and felt that all she needed was a mermaid’s tail. I turned the gymnast photograph of my grandfather into a treasure-chest-lifting merman. Animating the photographs enables me to be in my grandparent’s presence again and spend time with them. I’m sure they would have approved.
Anna Jacobson is a Brisbane poet, writer and artist. She won the 2018 Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize for her unpublished manuscript, which will be published by UQP in 2019. Her poetry chapbook The Last Postman (Vagabond Press, 2018) is part of deciBels 3. Anna won the 2018 Queensland Premier’s Young Publishers and Writers Award. More of Anna’s video artworks can be viewed at her website.