By Leanor Allon, First Year English
This March, the exhibition of works focusing on the central theme of womanhood returns to Centrespace studios and galleries in its third rendition. The collection of media produced by female and non-binary artists is curated by Sanni Pyhanniska, with 20 per cent of proceeds donated to the Global Fund for Women.
The complexities of the female experience are addressed through exploring themes of identity, relationships, and the body through a range of mediums. The artist bilquees takes a pop art approach to the female body in their work WAKE UP!, one of their ‘typewriter drawings’ of silhouettes surrounded by typed words. The nondescript figures are shown in various positions of movement and stillness upon colourful backgrounds in a tile-like format. Adjacent to the figures, the addition of a column of similar typewriter drawings of a bird in varying stages of flight is reminiscent of a film strip. This emphasises the motion of the piece and encourages a parallel to be drawn between the women and the animal in terms of corporeal form, both demonstrating their freedom of physical expression.
Purposely held annually around the date of International Women’s Day, the whimsical yet intentional collection of female-oriented art created a space to purposefully draw viewers’ attention to everyday aspects of womanhood. Curator Sanni informed me that she draws upon female experiences, relationships and personal memories as sources of inspiration in her own work – a noticeable theme of her oeuvre and her presented pieces. Continuing this personal approach to femininity, I found intimacy and sentimentality to be overarching themes woven throughout the collection. Pyhanniska’s series of monotypes focusing on a girl braiding her hair invoked within me an almost physically tangible empathy, as a daily female ritualistic practice was spotlighted. The lightness of hands, neck and cheek, the softness of action, and allied poem – ‘Intuition grows out of my scalp’ – added to the sensual, tactile approach to the female form. The end of the braid is depicted alone in a separate work, a physical dismantling of the body as the focus shifts through the works from shadowy face, to hands, to the tips of hairs. The physical intimacy of the collected works continued, with Katherine Allen’s Binary Stars depicting a woman’s bare back with the same soft, affectionate gaze of familiarity.
‘‘Resistant delicacy’ encapsulates the gentle protest of the exhibition’
Returning Women by Women collaborator Jazz Potter’s playful wire and textile sculpture of pale blue polka-dotted panties entitled Laundry Day places an exposing yet non-confrontational focus on another typical element of girlhood. The artist encourages us to ‘take heed in the resilient delicacy of this artwork and let go’ in the complementary text. The collective experiences of women are highlighted through reflections upon personal memory; ‘share, rejoice, and reflect’ we are encouraged, given a pen and paper to add our own experiences interactively to the piece. The notes were then wound to another underwear-shaped wire framework, collectively producing another pair. ‘Resistant delicacy’ encapsulates the gentle protest of the exhibition, as Sanni believes that the act of bringing together the collective of artists’ work creates an overwhelming sense of community and unity. Each year, the exhibition becomes more diverse in terms of medium, subject, matter and artist. The group of those participating has grown from 9 in its first iteration to 24 women and non-binary artists this year, introducing more perspectives and voices to the narrative of representation. By the door, an empty brown notebook encourages us to add our own words to the display. I also found that integrated placement of Emily Gibbard’s sculpture throughout the space added to the immersive, interactive aspect of the display. Donna Lyons’ Beyond the Veil invites viewers to dismantle the artwork of risograph prints, ‘creating an imperceptible alteration to the exhibit’ in the act of removing one of the stacked duplicate segments that form of the whole image.
The exhibition invites us to appreciate the variety of female relationships that play integral roles in our lives. Emily Seffar approaches this topic in her small gouache paintings of herself, her mother and her sister. Accompanied by miniature trinkets of charms, paper cuttings, pebbles, and other small seemingly trivial objects, immense sentimental value is placed upon the work. In her screenprint on paper Sisters, Jessi Chiang also explores her relationship with her sister, aunt, and nieces in colourful, patterned pieces of large figures and small figures holding each other, surrounded by symbols of nature. Platonic female relationships are examined in Amber Bardell’s work – Give and Take depicts two full-skirted figures passing a flower between each other, surrounded by swirling plants and a large bird. This endearing recurring motif is also seen in Hand in Hand, a watercolour work of terracotta tones and dotted patterns intended to gently remind viewers of shared experiences and symbiotic friendships. Her distinctive art style reminiscent of folk art, and earthy, jewel-like tones of her work evidences the inspiration she takes from nature, foraging her own natural pigment sources for paint. Motherhood is also addressed, from a wall-mounted book of photographs and text including an image of breastfeeding, and a sculpture with a scalpel at its focus.
Juniper Gardner
Kashvi Cox
Women by Women continues to attempt to articulate the many complexities of womanhood, representing the female experience honestly and artfully through a beautiful curation of works. The exceptionally interesting collective of local artists bring their own personal understanding to their art, and in the art of collaboration, create a mosaic of voices.
Featured image: Women by Women.3 | Epigram / Leanor Allon
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