Polixeni Papapetrou was born into a Greek immigrant family in Melbourne and her art practice explored the relationship between history, contemporary cultures, identity and being. Of Delphi, Papapetrou wrote ‘The girl in the image is Natasha. She is a violinist at the Australian National Academy of Music (ANAM) and highly regarded. She is the eldest of a family of eight and the first three born children are all violinists at ANAM. She comes from a well-known musical family. People ask me if it is her real hair, and it is. The girls in that family never cut their hair.’stonnington contemporary art collection, polixeni papapetrou, greek, migrant, photography, adolescence

‘The Provider’ is a part of a series of images Papapetrou made by photographing her daughter Olympia wearing various animal masks. Titled ‘Between Worlds’ the images are set in natural outdoor landscapes, as well as domestic gardens and farmland. Of the series Papapetrou said, "This is when I turned to the Australian landscape to tell certain stories about growing up. I haven’t portrayed the Australian landscape as a series of vistas, but have used it to explore narratives about how children animate and exist in-nature and how nature accepts them." The series grapples with the transition between childhood and adulthood and the anxiety, sadness and excitement of a parent watching their child grow up. photograph

Purchased through the Horsham Art Gallery Trust Fund, 2006

Donated through the Australian Government's Cultural Gifts Program by Robert Nelson, 2006

Gift of the Bardas family in memory of Sandra Bardas, 2011

Gift of the Bardas family in memory of Sandra Bardas, 2011

Purchased through the Horsham Art Gallery Trust Fund, 2020

Gift of the Julie Millowick Acquisitive Award, 2003

Digital Printlandscape, aircraft, olympia