Terrence Hunter Chapter six – self-portrait

The title of Terence Hunter’s self-portrait is, says the artist, a play on a couple of different references. “If life is ten chapters then this is chapter six. It is also vaguely linked to Chapter 6 of the Revelation to John in the New Testament of The Bible in which there is a rider on a black horse carrying a set of scales. I’ve got a tape measure. It’s to do with famine so part of my allusion is not to physical famine but to aesthetic famine.”

As for the gate and barbed wire fence, Hunter doesn’t want to give too much away other than to note that it is locked. “The nakedness can be a sign of all sorts of things including the vulnerability of the artist.” Asked about the wire tearing at his skin, he says that being an artist can be “a painful journey. The backdrop I’m not telling you about at all. Those who recognise it will either be offended or titillated.”

Born in Benalla, Victoria in 1954, Hunter is an artist and picture framer. He majored in art at teacher’s college then taught on and off for 12 years. He was a founding member of Artists for Reformational Thought (1984–89). In 2002 he had a major solo exhibition of 11 years work at the Regional Arts Centre Bendigo. He was a finalist in the 2003 James Farrell Self Portrait Award and has been represented in several group exhibitions.