Jacqueline Fahey (born 1929), New Zealand,
Fraser sees me, I see myself, 1975, oil paint on board. Purchased 1990 with Harold Beauchamp Collection funds

Unease

In this painting, Jacqueline Fahey’s husband, psychiatrist Fraser MacDonald, inspects her through a magnifying glass while she looks at herself - and the viewer - in a mirror. Lack of communication, domestic conflict, and the distances between family members are common themes in the artist’s work from this period.

Fahey said in 1984, ‘I assume if I am honest about what’s going on in my life then it has got to be relevant to what is going on in a lot of people’s lives.’

In the 1970s, Fahey was one of a number of artists, including Jeffrey Harris and Michael Smither, who produced images of unease in family life, relationships, and the politics of the wider world.