Court

From the late 1980s until the early 2000s Maree worked as a court artist.
"At first the experience was harrowing. I have once been to court over [a] traffic fine and I had found it particularly bewildering. I couldn't help being struck by the similarity in the atmosphere with rituals and costumes of the church and the drama and pageantry of the theatre. The court seemed to be somehow for me a joining of the two. The justices, judges and advocates in their theatrical costumes, the sombre sets with carefully chosen levels with the defendants kept on the lowest rung surrounded by the returned wooden bars with symbolic jail. The witness box with the Christian Bible holding such sway until it becomes strangely irrelevant when a non-believer takes the stand.
After the first six months I couldn't help thinking how terribly ordinary the average murderer looks. I had expected distinct traits and I was eager to be able to judge or discern a characteristic so that I could categorise 'murderers' in my mind. It was a humbling experience. I could only murmur 'there but for the grace of God go I'."