As the mid-century houses of suburban Melbourne began to be demolished at the turn of the century, they were often replaced by mansions. These incredibly large and ornate houses with classical facades, resembling banks, foreign embassies or libraries, are incongruous in their cramped settings, squeezed into quarter acre blocks and towering over their neighbours. They attract derogatory sneers and racial slurs by the ‘locals’. Not from my parents though. My father would look up at them as he passed, and murmur in his Greek accent “beautiful”. He would have loved to have a house that looked like the Parthenon.
I’m astonished by them. I don’t know weather to laugh or cringe. Coming from a Greek household, where our furniture and carpet attracted many a sneer from our Anglo high school friends and neighbours, I feel glad it’s not us being laughed at now. But along with aesthetic disgust, I feel a bittersweet sadness. I think of my parents who worked so hard in degrading jobs, and whose main legacy was their house in the suburbs. They came from a rural life in Greece to a large city in Australia, and they were very proud of their material achievements.
This series of six paintings was inspired by Balwyn mansions. The houses are dressed in blue, the colour of heaven; a nod to the hopes and dreams of aspirational migrants.
The paintings were created for the group show Domestica Fantastica, an exhibition offering a feminist commentary on the salvation, torments and excesses of our domestic lives. Artists: Andrea Hughes, Kelly Sullivan, Olga Tsara. Exhibited: Various Space, 25 Main Street, Foster (Vic.), 1 February - 3 March, 2025.
