Artist's Statement

"Not only was I bashed in an unprovoked attack on a tram last August," states Brunswick based writer and artist Richard Blue, "but I was dragged onto the road and kicked as well."

"The details shouldn't really matter given that it was at least six against one," argues Blue, "but for the record they did not even speak to me. I was surrounded by a gang of guys standing so close that it was impossible to move without touching them."

"They started waving their hands under my hat so I decided to make a run for one of the café's up the Carlton end of Lygon Street. I reflexively pushed one of the guys back to create some space."

"Then I was hit."

Blue, who has recently completed a Masters Degree in Creative Writing from La Trobe University, turned to visual art in the wake of the assault.

"I literally lost my public face," he states. "I had two black eyes and it was weeks before strangers stopped asking me questions."

It is for this reason that he has chosen to display a self-portrait based on a photograph taken a day or two after the assault along the tram line the incident occurred on.

The work, Autoluminscent, is a visual companion to his thesis which he is currently turning into a book.

"The idea with this project is to transcend the impact of trauma by refusing to relinquish a sense of beauty."

Blue, who was born Richard Evans, is a 38 year old Brunswick resident.

Lucid is a new display space intended to showcase the contemporary glassware of Matrix Designs but will also feature the work of local artists as well as artists books and an array of catalogues.