‘GIRLY’ AND BODILY is a research project that aims to immerse the viewer in a bodily experience of painting installation that explores excessively bright colours and cute ‘girly’ bubbly forms to reclaim them as a symbol of powerful femininity. I appropriate symbols of ‘girliness’ such as bright pink, bubbles, and love hearts, that are often stereotypically associated with derogatory ideas of femininity and aim to capitalise on the automatic reverence that is placed on objects within a fine art space.
I graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2018. In 2019, I completed a three-month residency at ARE in the Netherlands. Upon returning to Australia, I exhibited in various spaces, including SOL Gallery, Alternating Current Art Space, Brunswick Street Gallery, Counihan Gallery, and Noir Darkroom Gallery. After these exhibitions, I completed a residency with School House Studios, participated in a mentorship program with Trocadero Art Space, and contributed to the installation of Lily van der Stokker’s show at Camden Art Centre, London.
My investigation into the use of bright colours within painting is informed by the works of artists such Lily van der Stokker, Emily Floyd, Sylvie Fleur, and Kathy Temin. Like these artists, I create large scale installations to immerse the viewer within an experience of colour. The vibrant and bold appearance of my artwork, combined with the inclusion bodily forms such as the curvy lines or squishy silicone forms, aims to examines how, as art historian Claire Bishops writes, ‘the viewer’s experience of an installation is always physical, and…is specifically concerned with the viewer’s embodied response.’ By utilising ‘girly’ organic forms within an immersive installation, I create work that inspires the viewer to consider their bodily relationship to my work and investigate the interconnections between femininity and colour.
instagram: @eevee.artsy