I once had the life-enhancing experience of a lift in Mary Duffy’s Volkswagon van. To sit beside a beautiful woman who is driving and steering with her feet, and feel completely at ease, is to find a new confidence in life. We were on our way, with a friend of Mary’s, to a party to celebrate Gene Lambert’s Work From a Dark Room, a photographic exhibition in which both Mary and myself, among twenty or thirty others, were portrayed.
Duffy has just starred in a new film, Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus, which stars Nicole Kidman as the controversial 1950s photographer. Duffy plays the role of Althea, a friend to Robert Downey jnr’s character Lionel, who is covered in fur. “I sent a showreel to the director,” says Duffy, “but I didn’t really expect to get picked.” A clip from the showreel - which can be seen on YouTube - shows Duffy making a cup of tea: getting a mug out of the cupboard, filling the kettle, pouring the water into the teapot, and finally sitting down to drink the tea - all with her left foot.
courtesy of the Irish Times
Mary Duffy’s solo exhibition will open in the Bold Gallery, Galway on June 7
Fur: An Imaginary Portrait of Diane Arbus is out on DVD this month
