A group show in which different artists were invited to explore the theme of Ancestry.

In this exhibition Litza Jansz used photomontage to re-present archive images of herself and her family to challenge familial relationships in engaging and evocative ways.

 

My Ancestors

This image represents Litza aged 60, maternalistically holding her infant self and her twin sister.

“Images of my infant self belonged to a bygone era. I realised that, as I age, I could never be as old as my infant self. In a myriad of ways the child is the ancestor of the adult”.

Extended Family

This image represents Litza Jansz’s Sri Lankan Dutch Burgher family extended over time.

It presents 4 generations in which her parents and siblings are imagined at the same age as the grandchildren and great grandchildren. In playing with time she subverts hierarchies, power relationships and the boundaries between the nuclear families within the wider family unit. The piece expresses nostalgia for the Asian extended family with its radical potential for inclusion.