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image: the art work 'absent' (2018) by conceptual jeweller Tiffany Parbs showing a head and shoulders portrait photograph of a woman face on wearing a camouflage sleeping mask embroidered with the capital letters AWOL © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved

absent 2018 cotton, giclee print on aluminium, 470 x 340 x 12mm print

photography by Tobias Titz

image: the art work 'purge' (2018) by conceptual jeweller Tiffany Parbs showing a head and shoulders portrait photograph of a woman face on wearing a dripping hood made from brown plasticine, designed to look like a bucket of faeces has been poured over her head © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.

purge  2018 plasticine, plaster, giclee print on aluminium, 260 x 190 x 250mm object

470 x 340 x12mm print, photography by Tobias Titz

image: brace (2018), an artwork by conceptual jeweller Tiffany Parbs showing a portrait photograph of a woman wearing a collar neck brace made from cast white Crayola crayons with the word 'fragile' etched into it largely in red crayon © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.

brace 2018, cast crayon, giclee print on aluminium, 75 x 165 x 165mm object 470 x 340 x 12mm print, photography by Tobias Titz

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image: the art work 'gnash' (2018) by contemporary jeweller Tiffany Parbs, showing a head and shoulders portrait photograph of a woman face on wearing smile extender jewellery devices. The two devices each hold a row of teeth nestled in a line of pink gum. They hook into the side of the mouth and extend the line of teeth and gum to the woman's ears. The worn devices are forcing the woman's mouth into a fixed smile, and are made from pink coated sterling silver ('gums') and stone set false teeth © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.

gnash 2018 porcelain teeth, sterling silver, enamel paint, giclee print on aluminium 50 x 125 x 25mm object, 470 x 340 x 12mm print, photography by Tobias Titz

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image: the art work 'fit' (2018) by conceptual jeweller Tiffany Parbs, showing a head and shoulders portrait photograph of a woman face on, wearing a navy towelliing headband with the word fit embroidered in white stitching, in a similar font to Nike. The woman has a fierce and disgruntled expression © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.
image: the art work 'game' (2018) by conceptual jeweller Tiffany Parbs, showing a head and shoulders portrait photograph of a woman face on, wearing a mask made from a black and white soccer ball with sterling silver cut outs revealing the eyes © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.

fit 2018, terry toweling, giclee print on aluminium, 60 x 230 x 15mm object 470 x 430 x 12mm print, photography by Tobias Titz

image: the art work 'vacant' (2015) by conceptual jeweller Tiffany Parbs, showing a head and shoulders portrait photograph of a woman face on, whose face is entirely obscured with fine fake grass, with the excepetion of her eyes, completely masking her identity © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.

vacant  2015, synthetic grass, giclee print on aluminium, 470 x 340 x 12mm photography by Tobias Titz

game 2018 soccer ball, sterling silver, cotton, elastic, giclee print on aluminium 215 x 215 x 135mm object, photography by Tobas Titz

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image: the art work 'nullify' (2015) by conceptual jeweller Tiffany Parbs, showing a head and shoulders portrait photograph of a woman face on, with her eyes and mouth concealed by gold rectangular plates to cancel and mask her identity © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.

nullify 2015, 22kt gold leaf, thermoplastic, giclee print on aluminium, 470 x 340 x 12mm photography byTobias Titz

image: the artwork 'structure' (2018) by contemporary jeweller Tiffany Parbs, made of a series of images of two children playing in the park on a stainless steel climbing frame being worn by their kneeling mother. This image shows the young girl running towards the mother/structure with the boy kneeling on top of the frame with the mother's head between his knees and his fists rasied © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.
image: structure (2018), an artwork made of a series of images of two children playing in the park on a stainless steel climbing frame being worn by their kneeling mother. In this image the girl is climbing on the frame while the boy kneels on top of the structure with the mothers head between his knees © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.
image: structure (2018), an artwork made of a series of images of two children playing in the park on a stainless steel climbing frame being worn by their kneeling mother. In this image the girl is looking into her mother face while the mother kneels inside the stainless steel cage and the boy is sitting on top looking down at his mothers head between his knees © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.
image: structure (2018), an artwork made of a series of images of two children playing in the park on a stainless steel climbing frame being worn by their kneeling mother. This image shows a boy jumping from the top stainless steel climbing frame being worn by his mother © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.
image: structure (2018), an artwork made of a series of images of two children playing in the park on a stainless steel climbing frame being worn by their kneeling mother. In this image the woman is standing wearing the climbing frame, she looks strong, alert and watchful © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.

structure 2018 stainless steel, giclee prints, 990 x 730 x 730mm object, series of 5 prints, varied print dimensions, metalwork by Daniel Schutt, photography by Tobias Titz

image: slope (2018), an artwork showing a series of images of a boy and a girl playing in the park on a three quarter sized wearable stainless steel slippery dip worn by their mother. In this image the woman is wearing the slide neckpiece, with her head poking through a hole in the top surface of the slide, the slide extended and balanced on the ground. The woman looks strong, alert and watchful, the children are not present in this particular image from the series. © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.

slope 2018 stainless steel, giclee prints, 1170 x 390 x 1560mm object, series of 13 prints of the work in situ, varied print dimensions

metalwork by Daniel Schutt. photography by Tobias Titz

image: slope (2018), an artwork showing a series of images of a boy and a girl playing in the park on a three quarter sized wearable stainless steel slippery dip worn by their mother. It is a wearable neckpiece, with the mothers head poking through a hole in the top surface of the slide. The children are negotiating around the mothers head at the top of the ladder as they prepare to slide down © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.
image: slope (2018), an artwork showing a series of images of a boy and a girl playing in the park on a three quarter sized wearable stainless steel slippery dip worn by their mother. It is a wearable neckpiece, with the mothers head poking through a hole in the top surface of the slide. The children are negotiating around the mothers head at the top of the ladder as they prepare to slide down © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.
image: slope (2018), an artwork showing a series of images of a boy and a girl playing in the park on a three quarter sized wearable stainless steel slippery dip worn by their mother. It is a wearable neckpiece, with the mothers head poking through a hole in the top surface of the slide. The children are negotiating around the mothers head at the top of the ladder as they prepare to slide down © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.
image: slope (2018), an artwork showing a series of images of a boy and a girl playing in the park on a three quarter sized wearable stainless steel slippery dip worn by their mother. It is a wearable neckpiece, with the mothers head poking through a hole in the top surface of the slide. The children are negotiating around the mothers head at the top of the ladder as they prepare to slide down © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.
image: slope (2018), an artwork showing a series of images of a boy and a girl playing in the park on a three quarter sized wearable stainless steel slippery dip worn by their mother. It is a wearable neckpiece, with the mothers head poking through a hole in the top surface of the slide. The children are negotiating around the mothers head at the top of the ladder as they prepare to slide down © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.
image: slope (2018), an artwork showing a series of images of a boy and a girl playing in the park on a three quarter sized wearable stainless steel slippery dip worn by their mother. It is a wearable neckpiece, with the mothers head poking through a hole in the top surface of the slide. The children are negotiating around the mothers head at the top of the ladder as they prepare to slide down © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.
image: slope (2018), an artwork showing a series of images of a boy and a girl playing in the park on a three quarter sized wearable stainless steel slippery dip worn by their mother. It is a wearable neckpiece, with the mothers head poking through a hole in the top surface of the slide. The children are negotiating around the mothers head at the top of the ladder as they prepare to slide down © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.
image: slope (2018), an artwork showing a series of images of a boy and a girl playing in the park on a three quarter sized wearable stainless steel slippery dip worn by their mother. It is a wearable neckpiece, with the mothers head poking through a hole in the top surface of the slide. The children are negotiating around the mothers head at the top of the ladder as they prepare to slide down © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.
image: worn (2018), a jewellery artwork showing a woman whose face is obscured by her hair, dressed completely in black on a black background. She is wearing a necklace made from a deconstructed battered antique Brentwood chair. The deconstructed chair parts are held together with a linked chain, the curve of back of the chair rests on her neck and the seat of the chair is flat against her stomach with the front legs dangling down. The impression created is that she is feeling like part of the furniture © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.

worn 2018, chair, brass, copper giclee print, 780 x 380 x 480mm object, 1000 x 670mm print, photography by Tobias Titz

image: attached (2018), an artwork showing a mother wearing a dress made from tan coloured loop velcro. She is bending over and supporting the weight of a boy and a girl who are attached to her by the tan hook velcro clothing they are wearing. The boy is hanging from her back and a girl is attached to the woman's stomach by her stomach and arching backwards with her ponytails hanging down © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.

attached 2018, velcro, cotton, giclee print, objects assorted sizes, 1000 x 720mm print, photography by Tobias Titz

image: hirsute (2015), an artwork showing a red haired and fair skinned baby wearing a sleeveless onesie made from long auburn hair that cascades from the shoulders down past the feet. The baby appears swathed in the hair and suspended in front of a black background © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.

hirsute 2015, human hair, net, cotton, giclee print, 970 x 340 x 12mm object, 1000 x 670mm print, photography by Tobias Titz

image: baggage (2015), an artwork showing a side view of a fair skinned woman dressed in black on a black background, carrying a large black PVC shoulder handbag transformed into a baby carrier, with a young baby inside. The babys arm and leg are sticking out from large metal trimmed round circles cut out of the side of the handbag © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.

baggage 2015, pvc, satin, foam, galvanized iron, giclee print, 550 x 470 x 170mm bject 1000 x 670mm print, photography by Tobias Titz

image: fodder (2015), an artwork showing an image of a pair of floating breasts and a floating reclining baby on a black background. The breasts are wearing black rubber attachments joined to clear irrigation tubing that is channeling breastmilk from the breasts into the babys mouth. The baby has it's eyes closed as it is feeding © Tiffany Parbs, all rights reserved.

smother proposes a more realistic and pragmatic interpretation of mothering, one that revels in mundanity and demonstrates heightened awareness of the physical and psychological labour of parenting. It seeks to investigate the prevalent frameworks used to depict mothers in the widespread media; the psychological impact on individuals concerned and pervasive influences on socialisation and attitudes towards women in the wider populace.

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Within this assertion, smother examines the gap between the visceral reality of motherhood and gamut of unrealistic expectations placed on mothers from external influences. The suggested title refers to smother’s starting point, the saturation of ‘Ideal Mother’ myths permeating western advertising  that promote nurturing perfection and unattainable standards.

fodder 2015, pvc, plastic, rubber, cotton, aluminIum rivets, digital print, 670 x 1000mm, photography by Tobias Titz

This project has been supported by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria’s Creators Fund, City of Melbourne Arts Grant Program and assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body

© Tiffany Parbs. All images and content are copyright protected, all rights reserved
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