Polixeni Papapetrou

Polixeni Papapetrou (1960-2018) was born in Melbourne to Greek immigrants. Her childhood experience of feeling like an outsider in a then predominantly Anglo-Saxon culture led her to question definitions of identity. Her sympathy for otherness remained a key element of her life and work. As a photomedia artist, her images explored the relationship between history, contemporary culture and identity. Her photographs of children dressing up, performing and wearing masks sought to explore the portrayal of childhood identity. Her work has featured in over 50 solo exhibitions and over 100 group exhibitions in Australia, the USA, Asia and Europe. Survey exhibitions have been held at the Centre for Contemporary Photography, Melbourne, and the Australian Centre for Photography, Sydney. She exhibited in international photography festivals in Italy, Germany, Greece, France, Bratislava, the Netherlands, Colombia, China, Korea, Japan and Canada. Papapetrou obtained a PhD from Monash University, a master's degree from RMIT University and bachelor's degrees in arts and law from the University of Melbourne. In 2009, she received the Josephine Ulrick and Win Schubert Photography Award and in 2017, she won the Bowness Photography Prize. She is survived by her two children and her husband, art critic and academic Robert Nelson.