The Centenarian Project started in 2013 with the first drawing of my Aunty Rita who reached the age of 104. It occurred to me while drawing Rita that there must be other Centenarians who were still living lives with mobility, curiosity, and purpose. The nucleus of this series began to form.

Over the last 8 years l have drawn 100 Centenarians within Victoria and New South Wales, about half of whom are living in their own homes with outside support, the other half live in low-care residential accommodation. Each drawing was completed from life in an afternoon or morning with little alteration to that first impression, they are moments captured within a time allowed.

The exploration of aging and how well we age is central to this project. Maintaining human dignity and independent living are important issues as we age, alongside the question of what it means to have a productive and meaningful life.

One’s good fortune in life was acknowledged by nearly all of my sitters – sometimes bewilderment about having reached such an age was expressed. In Australia, there are 5000 centenarians and currently, 0.07% of our population will reach this age. This translates to one person in every 6000, of whom 80 percent are women. Very few will reach the Super Centenarian Club (110 and over). Two people in one million are the current odds.

l have included in the footnotes of these drawings notations which may offer small glimpses into the lives of these Centenarians - but by no means bestows the answer to longevity - as individual as each Centenarian is, so to are the reasons for their survival.