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General News

20 September, 2024

Showcase honours Maryborough local

Well known Maryborough local Frank ‘Pud’ Harris has been lovingly honoured by his daughter, Debbie Walter, in a touching exhibition chronicling the last years of his life as he lived with dementia.

By Deb Bennett

Debbie Walter with the paintings of her father.
Debbie Walter with the paintings of her father.

Well known Maryborough local Frank ‘Pud’ Harris has been lovingly honoured by his daughter, Debbie Walter, in a touching exhibition chronicling the last years of his life as he lived with dementia.

Titled ‘Palimpsest of Life,’ the exhibition is on display at the Darwin Visual Art Gallery and is described as a “…thought-provoking art exhibition that reimagines memento mori for contemporary times”.

Describing herself as Maryborough ‘born and bred’, Ms Walter taught art in Maryborough since 1999.

Also known by many past students as Miss Harris. Ms Walter and her family moved to Darwin nine years ago. In spite of the distance, the family remained close, with regular visits to and from Darwin.

“With his last visit to Darwin, he hadn’t long been diagnosed but was still well enough to travel up here,” Ms Walter said.

“He always did crosswords and word games and had his book out doing a word find. I was thinking he was still quite good; still talking and doing his puzzles.

“But when I looked, I realised he was just going through the motions, it didn’t actually make sense anymore. That was a real turning point, like a slap in the face and a realisation of what we were going to be dealing with.”

Not long after her parents returned to Maryborough from Darwin, COVID travel restrictions were imposed. Ms Walter said she turned to art as a way of working through the grief of losing her father (often referred to as ‘the slow goodbye’) while not being able be with him physically.

At the time, she was already working on her thesis for her Ph.D studies looking at the concept of Carpe Diem — a life well-lived. Although her paintings began as a very personal reflection, Ms Walter said they naturally tied in with her studies.

“I started painting him and at first it was just for myself as therapy, but I kept going until I had more than 20 of them,” she said.

“I ended up weaving that into the thesis as I thought at least I have my own personal narrative. Otherwise, it might have been a bit more superficial.”

The art has enabled Ms Walter to keep the spirit and love she has for her father alive, as well as enabling her to connect with others who have gone through a similar journey with loved ones.

“After he passed away, I continued to paint him. It was nice to not just stop and feel like I had lost my muse. I have done one of his version of heaven — surrounded by cats — and one of him and I when I was little kid,” Ms Walter said.

“The response from people from this solo show has been really positive. Although this is about my father, so many people seem to connect with the paintings.”

One of the portraits was a finalist for the National Teacher Artist Prize (one of two artists selected from each state/territory) and exhibited at the Lennox St. Gallery. Melbourne in 2022. And another ‘Tired Dad, with end-of-life paperwork’ has been shortlisted for the Northern Territory Art Awards and will go on to be exhibited at the Hilton on Darwin Esplanade this month.

“I hope Dad would be proud”.

Ms Walter has used the paintings as a way to increase awareness of dementia in the community as well as raise funds for Dementia Australia, who have offered support and guidance to the family throughout her father’s illness. She said her mum, Judy, cared for Frank at home until the last years of his life, when he lived in Wattle Rise.

“The staff at Wattle Rise were a terrific source of support for both Dad and Mum, as were the rest of the community,” Ms Walter said.

“It would be great if I could bring the exhibition to Maryborough one day, so people who knew and loved Dad could have the chance to experience it.”

This week was also Dementia Action Week, running from September 16-22.

To find out more, visit www.dementia.org.au/get-involved/dementia-action-week

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