Mother (Judith II)

Photographer and filmmaker Yasumasa Morimura is known for appropriating recognisable images, often portraits drawn from Western art history, and inserting his own likeness into the frame in place of the traditional subject. In Mother (Judith II) Morimura borrows from the biblical story of Judith and Holofernes, as well as Lucas Cranach the Elder’s painting Judith with the Head of Holofernes c.1530, while also invoking the ‘vegetable portraits’ of Giuseppe Arcimboldo. Here, Morimura appears as both protagonist and decapitated victim. As Judith, his countenance is overlaid with green cabbage leaves, while as Holofernes his skin takes on a potato-like texture.