NGV Limited Edition - Emma Armstrong-Porter, Breaking Out

Linocut on grey paper
Approximately A2 in size

Commissioned for the Print Portfolio, Breaking out of the psych ward to go to The Tote, 2022, explores tattoos as a form of autoethnography. The linocut depicts a graphic hand – inscribed with an idiosyncratic and personal semiotic system – that narrates the artist’s own story of institutionalisation. Drawing inspiration from prison tattoos, where symbols like cathedrals and citadels are inked onto prisoners’ bodies to indicate time spent incarcerated, Armstrong-Porter’s church is the iconic Collingwood pub, The Tote. Between an image of the rock-and-roll venue’s facade and a skull and crossbones scored with the initials VB for Victoria Bitter, a single swallow flies with outstretched wings, a tattoo motif that traditionally symbolises a safe return home for sailors and, for Armstrong-Porter, the possibility of freedom.

Breaking out of the psych ward to go to The Tote is a continuation of their ongoing linocut collection, The Swanston Street Series, exhibited at Fitzroy’s B-Side in 2021 and which was created over a six-year period when Armstrong-Porter was periodically hospitalised in local psychiatric units. The series examines perceived problems in the Victorian public mental-healthcare system, particularly for queer people.

Emma Armstrong-Porter Breaking out of the psych ward to go to the Tote 2022; linocut on grey paper; ed. 1/15. Commissioned by the National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, 2022
© Emma Armstrong-Porter

This item is a limited edition.

Only 1 edition copy per customer – multiple purchases will be refunded.

No discounts apply.

Any orders with an applied discount will be refunded as this item can not be discounted.

Limited edition sales are final - refunds, cancellations and exchanges cannot be accepted.

International orders are subject to import duties, taxes and delivery service charges that are the responsibility of the customer.