RIS ID
91300
Link to publisher version (URL)
Abstract
In the time I knew Pam Johnstoni during her doctoral study at the University of Wollongong (1995-1998) the search for mothers, the need for certain and indissoluble affections underpinned her art and writing. The father was lost and absent: there was a constant matrilineal momentum in her positioning of herself. “To explore mother daughter relationships, to examine oral histories as a way back to Aboriginal connections to land”, she wrote, was pivotal to her work (Johnston 1997, p.5). As a tribute to her, and because of my admiration for her courage and passion for justice I would like to tease out some of the complexities of her exploration by placing her in the context of her times.
Publication Details
Wood Conroy, D. (2014). Pam Johnston Dahl Helm: Lost to our Mothers. Coolabah, (14), 1-17.