MY CAR, MY CASTLE: A HOMELESS ARTIST AND HER HOLDEN.

Jacqui, a talented homeless artist with a long history of abuse and neglect, has lived in her beloved car, Barney, for the past 11 years. As a single, older woman, she is part of Australia’s fastest rising homeless demographic, a group forced to pay the price of a lifetime of gender discrimination.

The Geelong resident, whose work featured in a recent exhibition by disadvantaged artists, fled multiple abusive relationships before becoming homeless.

She now lives around rural Victoria in her veteran vehicle, finding reprieve in art when she can, and staying on high alert —she has been raped multiple times, like most of the homeless women she knows. “I never know if am going to wake up or not—whether it be from acid or someone with a lighter,” she explains. “I get followed a lot, so am always looking out, but it can be pretty hard to hide an orange Kingswood.”

Vice Asia 2019