EXHIBITIONS

The Painted Wall: Passages in Archaeology / 2001

An exhibition of images and processes from the excavation of an ancient theatre in Paphos, Cyprus. An exhibition of artist Diana Wood Conroy’s work, held between 21 June - 21 July 2001 at the FCA Gallery, The University of Wollongong. The exhibition was self curated by Diana Wood Conroy and opened by Prof. Richard Green of The University of Sydney.

The discovery of painted plaster fragments in the area of the western entrance to the Paphos theatre, a vaulted parodos, is of particular interest because of the rarity of painted frescoes on the architecture of ancient theatres. Decorative motifs such as garlands, swags of drapery, fillets to tie around the head, flower sprigs and imitation marble are typical of the imagery associated with Dionysos, the god of theatre.Comparable frescoes are found in Ephesus in Turkey, and in Alexandria in Egypt, also dated to the second century AD.

Artist Statement

Examining and describing the vivid fragments of fresco excavated in Paphos from 1996-2001 brings together scholarship, the craft of drawing, and the interpretation of the ancient past. What resonance can this past have in Australia? My art practice comprises images of the classical past that I find personally compelling juxtaposed with a ‘grounding’ in the landscapes of Australia, in drawing and tapestry. Diana Wood Conroy, 2001.