This is our second year where we celebrate International World Women’s’ Day. We used the same copy as we did last year (and perhaps this could be a thing we do each year?) as we wanted the debate to continue and so it seems do you as we have been overwhelmed with the response to this open call … The artists are engaged and passionate. We love both.
A massive thankyou and here is the exhibition.
Wow! Jenna and Nichola.
Artist name: Tracy Satchwill
Title: Magna Carta Women
Media: Digital collage
Description: The quadriptych collage captures the journey of British women over the last 800 years since the signing of the Magna Carta, featuring notable women and men who have influenced women's individual rights and freedoms, including Mary Wollstonecraft, Emmeline Pankhurst, Catherine of Aragon, Janet Horne, Barbara Castle and Laura Bates.
Instagram: @tracysatchwillstudio
Artist name: Slutmouth
Title: Narcissus
Media: Digital Illustration
Description: The women who is naked and laid across the rug represents many women that were depicted using their body language of lounging within the Renaissance period art. I have used lots of symbology within this piece as it was very common to do within Renaissance art to use iconography. The serpent that caresses her skin represents the fall of mankind and the hard path she must take, after taking a break amongst the flowers for now. Her naked body represents peace and self love, the garden is paradise and the flowers in spring a new beginning , the tiger beside her symbolises courage, the lemon tree, longevity and purification and spiritual nourishment. I have carefully selected flowers that were around in Renaissance gardens and all have symbology of their own as well as a paradise, the lavender for example is desired. I also considered the colour palette I used within this piece and mainly selected colours using colour theory and again Renaissance symbology along with a juxtaposition of contemporary elements. These elements include the hairy legs; although not contemporary it is rare to see females with body hair during that period, The woman is also wearing a balaclava which is an alternative and contemporary style of mask compared to the ones you would see depicted in this period of time.
Instagram: @bettiehopedesign
Artist name: Suhasini Seelin & Persia Martel - Cruz
Title: Beauty in Pieces
Description: Beauty in Pieces is a visual exploration of perceptions of beauty and the role it plays in our current lives. The exhibition was inspired by my personal journey through childhood as an aspiring actor, and later, as an emerging actor and model trying to break into the industry. Through unpacking my aspirations, influences, and choices I made and the way it shaped my life, I felt the immense pressure and weight that looks and beauty had placed on my shoulders. The stronghold of patriarchy, and colonisation of bodies and control over minds was very powerful. The video is a visual response to this process. It goes through various stages of power and struggle using pottery as a metaphor. The final stage draws upon the Japanese method of Kintsugi, where a broken pot is repaired with glue mixed with gold dust, to enhance the join lines rather than hiding them as flaws. Proudly and fearlessly owning one’s individuality, including flaws, is true autonomy.
Instagram: @suhasiniseelin
Artist name: Fred Fabre
Title: Changing Minds
Media: Oil
Description: Changing Minds - 70 x 100cm - oil on canvas- in this painting a feminist squad is replacing a blue brain by a pink brain. Beyond the obvious significance of the colour symbolism there is also an emphasis on the importance for girls in countries where the population growth is highest to attend and complete school.
Instagram: @Prospect__B
Artist name: Irene Marot
Title: A winter swim with Bosco
Media: Oil on canvas
Description: I met an extraordinary fearless 87yr old woman who has swum every morning at dawn. Her indomitable spirit encouraged a group of mainly women to continue this practice throughout the year, myself being one of them. The joy of this brings meaning to life and I wanted to celebrate it in the work
Instagram: .@irenemarot
Artist: Jenna Fox
Title: 17
Description: I am playing with the absurdity of how much women have to juggle in their lives. As a working mother, artist and bread winner I am constantly switching between work, art, and caring for my family. This was a photo shoot that took 2 hours and I posted an image a day for 17 days, each one with another item added. The film adds and removes on a loop to show the endurance of being a Mother..
Instagram: @jennafoxartist
Artist name: Rosalind Lowry
Title: Bog Women of Ireland
Media: White clay installation
Description: The installation was created following time spent with a team of Archaeologists from Queens University Belfast. The work is based on the Bog women bodies found across Ireland and the influence and presence of women on the land. I made the piece in tribute to the women who were never acknowledged for the mark they made on this land.
Instagram: @rosalindlowry
Artist name: Samina Islam
Title: “I am….”
Media: Thread and Textile
Description: My work explores female identity and highlights the issues of women’s oppression in Muslim societies and misrepresentation of true religious doctrine. Religion is so often manipulated as a tool of oppression for women and indeed in the hands of men it has been deployed against women throughout history. The use of sacred text highlights the rights of women in Islam and invites the audience to stop and take time to engage with these issues. Through my work I ask the viewer to look deeper in the rights and portrayal of Muslim women beyond stereotype. The use of layering and blurring of images signify that they have intersecting identities beyond being Muslim women. Textile and thread act as signifiers for the strength and resilience of women along with reference to women’s traditional skills and crafts. I view my autobiographical work as a part of an ongoing project that presents to and asks the viewer to question prejudicial views of women of faith.
Instagram: @_samina.abid
Artist name: Daria Lazo
Title: With Her: The Curse of Menarche
Description: The Curse of Menarche is the first chapter of the series With Her. This project is exploring how can contemporary visual arts be used to deconstruct the stigma around the representation of the female body, predominantly through the act of menstruation. Menstruation acts as a catalyst for the start of an honest conversation between the artist and other female participants. The artist is using her own personal experience and her body as one of the main tools to create a safe environment where the participants can be vulnerable and open to share their experiences as women.
The sculptures are one of the mediums used in this project, which are the transparent lifecasts of the participant's vulvas. They can be taken as part of the documentation process, in this case in sculptural form, where the participants leave their actual imprint. The choice for the transparent resin is not only for the complementary aesthetical purpose but also its ability to transfer and reflect the light. It is also there to challenge the spectator and deconstruct the stigma around the female sex. In this context, it cannot be sexualized, seen as unclean, disgusting, or ugly from a misogynist gaze. These sculptures are a source of empowerment, both for the participant as well as the viewer. The main obstacle of this project is that I had no prior experience working with sculpture, I have only worked with sculptors in the past documenting their work which played a major part in my inspiration for trying to do the sculptures myself. I did not have the studio space either working on these sculptures as it was all during the height of the pandemic and picking resin as the final material was very tricky to work with if you do not have the right equipment. Even working with female participants and doing their lifecasts was not as challenging as working on the final pieces of the casts and getting them to the right stage.
Instagram: @_darialazo_
Artist name: MARIN Flora Michèle
Title: Untitled
Media: Collage
Description: This is my mom's work who is now dead. She was a feminist woman and this is reflected in her work.
Instagram: @bougealexandra
Artist name: Dawn Langley
Title: Breaking Echo's Curse
Media: Lokta paper, canson paper book objects
Description: This piece explores the myth of Echo in relation to women’s voices, the black tunnel book explores the repetition of misogyny over the years (from Aristotle to Twitter) through a series of handwritten quotes that are repeated on each page, contrasted with a second copper coloured tunnel book that illuminates the voices of women from across the centuries, every page is filled with different quotes highlighting their wisdom, humour, and the battles they have fought. I made the piece as an older woman (turning 60 this year) who is fed up with women’s voices being ignored, appropriated, or misrepresented. My main obstacle was managing my personal responses to the misogynistic quotes I collected; contrasting them with the amazing women’s voices gave me hope and the energy to overcome my anger and despair.
Instagram: @dawnl_sketchbook
Artist name: Helen Davies
Title: Rage
Media: Knitting Description: Women haven’t been diagnosed with ‘hysteria’ since the 19th century, but nowadays women’s anger is still often dismissed as emotional nonsense, and many women have learned to hide it. Rage gets redirected as depression, dissociation and apathy.
The women at the bottom of the skirt are wearing masks demonstrating their anger and distress, and the front of the dress depicts pink, bubbly rage bursting forth, erupting into the bodice and mask of the costume. Women still have good reason to be furious, but even now it is difficult to express without being accused of being hysterical. The vibrant colours of the dress, and the cartoonish, frantic facial expressions of the masked women, imply the desperate frustration at feeling so pent up. This dress and mask are fully hand-knitted and hand-sewn. My knitting takes a critical view of current political and social issues, particularly from a feminist perspective. Knitting has a strong historical involvement in political dissent, and a reputation as ‘women’s work’. I take pride in using this unassuming craft to create bold images.
Instagram: @helendavies_yarnartist
Artist name: Chary Hilu
Title: Shelter
Media: Textile art, collage
Description: Blanket inherited from my grandmother, used symbolically as a shelter and protection for a huddled woman, which is drawn and blurred with threads. I made the piece to rescue my grandmother's memories and turn them into art. The obstacles were technical since I did not want to cut the blanket or glue it to preserve it intact
Instagram: @charyhilu
Artist name: Justine Gillan
Title: Harmony
Media: Oil
Description: Painting based on drawings done live in life drawing class. showing how relaxed and comfortable the models were in the own bodies.. and with each other..
Instagram: @justinejgillan
Artist name: Mary Sewell
Title: Star Gazer
Media: Ceramic sculpture
Description: This figure is inspired by the global phenomenon of prehistoric figurines that have been found around the world. My modern day take expresses the female form with a screen like head. It was built in stages, feet grounded to the earth, each stage needing to dry to avoid collapse, her head angled towards the stars. She’s stands at 38cm.
Instagram: @marysewell
Artist name: Shane Wimbledon
Title: Shades of growth
Media: Sculpture, polymorph, aluminium wire
Description: A piece created to show the strength of a mother going through cancer, held up by the sculptures strength and defiance not to fall.
I made this piece to show the resilience of my mother whilst going through radiotherapy.
Instagram: @paperprison_
Artist name: Demeter Dykes
Title: The Artist as Laverie Cooper aka Charmion circa 1904
Media: Digital photograph with drawing
Description: This is one of a series of homages to the strongwomen of the Victorian/Edwardian era who forged careers and financial independence at a time when women had very few rights, legal and societal. The work is the result of frustrations of my own in relation to work and others expectations. It is made quickly and with materials and props I have to hand.
Instagram: @demeterdykes
Artist name: Milly Aburrow
Title: Paint Me Like One Of Your French Fries
Media: Mixed Media Sculpture and Photography
Description: 'Paint Me Like One Of Your French Fries', was made in commentary of the ideals of women's bodies, shown through the classic, traditional meal of fish of chips, comparing the parallels of body types and shape within the humble chip. French Fries hinted at within the title represents the media driven unrealistic, which is juxtaposed by the celebratory chip sculpture from our local chippy, just alike our fondness for this food substance in its shape and form, this celebration of difference should be acknowledged within the variety of women within our society.
Instagram: @portfolio.milly
Artist name: Imthatwoman
Title: A mother
Media: Photography and hand-cut collage
Description: A pandemic was sweeping the world and everyone feared for their lives. And I feared for my baby’s life and my own and how I wouldn’t survive if it went wrong again. And the whole world stopped and I stayed at home and slept and ate and my belly grew and as the sun dawned over the desert I let myself believe I was going to become a mother.
Instagram: @imthatwoman__
Artist name: Megan Nicole Brown
Title: Heyyy Girrrl
Media: Textiles
Description: I think what I want to say with this work is quite self-explanatory. It was made as a reminder to be confident in what you want and what you are saying, and it is a celebration of women being bold and loud and expressive, taking up space and speaking up - even when it's difficult.
Instagram: @megannicolebrownart
Artist name: Helen Jones
Title: (im)perfection
Media: Hand embroidery
Description: I have never attempted a self-portrait before and I felt uncomfortable studying my appearance, zooming into the image and noticing my flaws. As women, we are bombarded with images of “perfection”, particularly though social media. These unrealistic beauty standards can leave us feeling that we’re not good enough and we should improve the way we look. The reverse of the embroidery piece makes my face appear even more distorted. Every thread is emphasised with an almost aggressive, chaotic texture, in stark contrast to the smooth finish of the front. I feel more drawn to this side with all its “imperfections”. Perhaps this is something we should notice more often about our own appearance. (As I can only attach one image to the submission I am not able to show the back of the piece. This is available to see on my Instagram page)
Instagram: @threadsinshreds
Artist name: Perrin Marie
Title: Doll House Collection
Media: Digital Photography
Description: Artists have a social responsibility to use their medium and platforms to provoke thought while doing no harm. Combining my social responsibility as an artist, human and environmentalist, I’ve created a photo project entitled “The Doll House Collection”. The self-portrait collection is home to several series accomplished with fashion and photosets from recycled materials. Inspired by the collective blind eye of world leaders and community members regarding global warming and waste, it is my hope that the collection will provoke viewers to reconsider, reuse and recycle.
Instagram: @theperrinmarie
Artist name: Jan lee johnson
Title: Mrs Vansittart
Media: Procreate digital drawing using oil paint brushes.
Description: This is a drawing of an unsung Victorian heroine who died in obscurity. She was the inventor of the ‘Screw propeller” her life has not been documented and I have created the only portrait of her, based on lengthy historical research and archive searching. The drawing represents hours of digital mark-making, and it is homage to her life which combines drawing skills with technology.
Instagram: @jan_leejohnson
Artist name: Aparna Maladkar
Title: Labours of HER(clues)
Media: Digital art
Description: As with the Greek mythological story of Labours of Hercules, the painting is an abstract view that depicts the daily struggles of a woman. The painting was made with BrushesRedux app on an iPad inspired by the Roman Farnese Atlas marble statue holding the celestial globe.
Instagram: @aparna.maladkar
