Selected works from RMIT Culture collections and International Collections

Jack Stone, Untitled, 1988

This portrait by Jack Stone is notable to me in that the face itself is unrecognizable. The nose and mouth are covered, the chin is reduced to just a shadow, and the eyes and eyebrows are drawn as if cut out and placed on a flat surface. The most identifying part of the work is the hands. As artists, our hands are how we make meaning in the world; creating art gives us a sense of self and purpose. We often focus on the face when we think about identity and connection, but I believe our hands are just as capable of being our self-portrait.

Jack Stone

Untitled, 1988

Lithograph on paper

Edition: A/P

25.2 x 20.4 cm (image)

Gift of the artist to the Phillip Institute of Technology, 1988 Phillip Institute Collection, RMIT University Art Collection

Lisa Roet, Chimpanzee Hands, 2007 Lisa Roet’s practice centres around primates and their relationship to humans, both ancestral and modern. It’s impossible not to see the connection between ourselves and our nearest cousins when we view this work, which has pride of place on Bowen Street. The pose she has chosen conveys a sense of offering, and it is no less powerful or emotive for being made by the hands of chimpanzees rather than those of humans.

Lisa Roet

Chimpanzee Hands, 2007 Bronze

Edition: 1/6

Right hand 103 x 44 x 23 cm (irreg.); left hand 97 x 42 x 25 cm (irreg.)

Purchased through the RMIT Art Fund, 2012 RMIT University Art Collection

Works by Lucy Maddox

Alone

Since isolation began, my world has shrunk to the size of my own body. In lonely hours spent staring at my torn cuticles or my fading freckles, I feel disconnected from my family on the other side of the world and even from my friends only a few kilometres away. Despite all this, my partner and I find strength in our connection that has grown in the time we’ve spent together in lockdown.

Safety

Our hands have become a source of both comfort and anxiety in this new era. On the rare occasion that we leave the house, we wash and sanitize our hands endlessly, until the skin cracks and bleeds. We are lonely and touch starved, but terrified of an invisible monster that could be on any surface. In this work, I’ve chosen one of the few objects I still carry with me, my housekey, as a symbol of the refuge that my home now represents to me.

Alisha Mahendran

Based in Melbourne, Alisha Mahendran creates poems that encourage spiritual growth, environmental connection and introspective thinking. Alisha studies Environmental Science in RMIT and has a deep passion for exploration and discovery. Both of such concepts she evidently expresses through her writings.