We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which the Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art stands and recognise the creative contribution First Australians make to the art and culture of this country.
Yvonne Todd / New Zealand b.1973 / January 2006 / Lightjet print on paper, ed. 3/3 / 135 x 107.3cm / Purchased 2007 through the Queensland Art Gallery Foundation Grant / Collection: Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art / © Yvonne Todd
Yvonne ToddJanuary 2006
Not Currently on Display
Yvonne Todd’s fascination with the dark side of beauty emerges from her investigation of photography. Using her technical expertise, Todd shows us that there is always something more to what we see in a photograph, even if it is more artifice.
In January 2006, we are presented with Todd’s version of ‘January Wayne’, the tragic young heiress of Jacqueline Susann’s 1973 bestseller Once is Not Enough — a carefully made-up and Photoshopped muse with an anxious expression and bloodshot eyes. Todd’s January, about to consume a sugarcube laced with hallucinogens that would result in her disappearance — as it did the character in Susann’s book — presents an obscure mix of pathos and glamour, sexuality and creepiness.
Referencing aspects of popular culture through a kitsch and retro aesthetic, Yvonne Todd draws inspiration from the staged qualities of commercial studio portrait photography.
A sense of both eerie and compelling melodrama is created in Todd’s work through her use of props, such as wigs, false eyelashes, period dress and other accessories, which express her fascination with the artificial and unsettling aspects of the everyday, exploring the underbelly of beauty.