Mia 2023
Helene Cochaud
- Sitter: Mia Wilkinson
- Medium: Photograph
- Dimensions: 65cm x 43cm
- Representation: This artist represents themselves
About the artwork
Mia Wilkinson is a vibrant, lively 12 year old, naviagting the preteen years like many others. The artist describes her as “beautiful, active, intelligent, a cheeky individual who has a bright future ahead of her.”
In this documentary photograph, the young Mia stares out confidently at the viewer. She sits at a table in her kitchen drawing, and the blurring of the background brings her into sharp relief.
The angle of the camera captures her arms and legs and we can see that each of her limbs has undergone amputation. There is a story here, a story of a fighter and a survivor. Mia contracted sepsis at the age of four and we can see on her face the determination that has made her a survivor.
The artist draws attention to the intense and open gaze, while showing the “under the table” view. Everything is transparent and shown just how it is.
This artwork came about after the artist saw an ABC TV Australian Story episode on Mick O’Dowd, who lost his limbs to sepsis. She decided to raise awareness about the illness, and raised money to fund travel to Brisbane and other cities to document the lived experience of sepsis survivors.
About the artist
Helene Cochaud is a story teller, who uses documentary photography to reveal the lives and experiences of ordinary people. Her work has been collected by the State Library of NSW and Fairfield Museum & Gallery and has been exhibited in both solo and group exhibitions over a number of years. Her exhibtion, SOMEBODY #coulditbesepsis? was held in Sydney in July this year.
