Napier Waller Art Prize winner
Content note: This work of art includes references to suicide and confronting content which some people may find challenging and disturbing.
Deathmin
stacked paper, vinyl, plastic, leather, metal
157 x 30 x 37 cm
After my veteran husband Andrew suicided in 2017, I inherited a stack of post-death admin. This “deathmin” contains thousands of pages in which Andrew requests support for his broken body. Eventually, DVA paid $7 fortnightly, later reduced to $5. Three months before Andrew died, payments ceased.
The Inspector General ADF is supposed to investigate and report on each veteran suicide within a year, with recommendations to prevent further deaths. Andrew’s report was six years overdue, redacted, ignored pertinent facts, and lacked any recommendations to save lives.
Andrew’s report was signed off in March 2023 but came to me in October. I had just three days to share my experiences with the Royal Commission into Veteran Suicide before submissions closed.
In the army, you are taught that no matter how tired you are, you cannot lean against walls. Heavy with fatigue and leaning precariously like the fate of so many, Deathmin is weary and wants to rest.
Deathmin is a counter-monument to the strong, upright imagery often conveyed in the Australian War Memorial. At my height and Andrew’s weight, Deathmin embodies the burden placed on veterans and their families. It asks bureaucratic institutions to care for the people they say they will.
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