Divided Self (Speakers’ Corner)

In <i>Divided Self (Speakers’ Corner)</i> artist Rose Finn-Kelcey appears twice, apparently in conversation with herself on a Hyde Park bench. The title, perhaps a nod to Scottish psychiatrist, R.D. Laing’s 1960 classic exploration of madness, Divided Self, brings a further layer of meaning to the work. As a multimedia conceptual artist, Finn-Kelcey’s work explored the relationship between the subjective and the personal: several of her works were staged in public spaces, ranging from broadcasting corporations to churches, energy suppliers and government buildings. The combination of wit, imaginative capacity and intellectual thought locates Finn-Kelcey’s practice in an avant-garde lineage. 

Produced in an era long before the availability of Photoshop, the premise of Finn-Kelcey’s photograph appears to be incredibly simple. Yet, the repetition of the female image seems to enhance the presence of the female voice during a period when women artists of the 1970s were routinely dismissed or patronised. On a practical level, Finn-Kelcey joined the Women Artists’ Collective and helped found the Women Artist’s Slide Library, groups whose purpose was to offer help and support.