Installation view, Window Gallery, North Sydney
- Labour of Entanglement
1st March to 15 April
Window Gallery, 43 Ridge Street North Sydney
Artist Talk at Stanton Library, 9th of March, 10.30 am
Artist Statement
The exhibition Labour of Entanglement is a fantastical enquiry into personal and contemporary portrayals of female archetypes.
The artworks delve into themes of motherhood and maternity through a surrealist and feminist lens. After the birth of her daughter, the South African artist Marlene Dumas has been famously quoted to have said “I’m not one of the boys anymore.” Indeed, for many female artists throughout history, the biological state of pregnancy separates and distances her from her male counterparts and their relative freedoms. Pregnancy is however also a magical state - the starting point of life - and can thus fuel creativity and give rise to mysticism.
The series I have created explores diverse representations of the female body and its relation to the child through allegory and recognisable symbolism. I endeavour to highlight both the ordinary lives of mothers and children across cultures, as well as the spiritual and religious role of the mother, through visual references to Christian icons and the divinity of the Virgin Mary. Together the artworks are an ode to the mother in her sacred state and her sacrifices.