The ventriloquist and his dummy

Drawing and printmaking have been a constant and important aspect of Mike Parr's practice from 1981 which is perhaps overshadowed, but nevertheless interrelated to, the artist's challenging performance art pieces from the 1970s, 1990s and 2000s. 'The ventriloquist and his dummy' 2000, featured in the exhibition ...de Kooning, de Kooning... at Anna Schwartz Gallery, Melbourne in 2000 and belonging to Parr's ongoing 'Self Portrait Project' series (1982-present), continues the artist's meditation on the psychological, physical and social divisions between the 'self' and 'other'.

Parr manifests this meditation in a self-portrait that does not distinguish the subject from its association. Four large sheets of aluminium mounted with paper on canvas are woodblock printed in yellow and orange ink. Expressionistically drawn underneath in brush and red ink on the first panel is an elongated cranium with extraterrestrial features. On the third and fourth panels amongst a scurry of gestural brush-marks and splatters materializes a second facial form. One cannot determine whether Parr has assumed the role of the puppeteer and/or puppet in this ambiguous image; we deliberate with the artist his true identity and representation.