'Revenge can be sweet' for WIOP Vol.2

My work is inspired by the paintings of Female Revenge by Baroque artists; Artemisia Gentileschi and Elizabetta Sirani in particular. I see in their work a familiar sense of female injustice and rage.

I began by reworking classic images of Portia, Judith and Eve and Timoclea. Working out of black, I try to capture the emotion and energy of these stories through colour. The colours emerge out of the blackness like fireworks out of a darkened void.

I am trying to pull women’s voices, stories and thoughts out of the black by allowing the paint to lead me, without the constraints of line.

I paint for the moments of creation and connection.

As I question the old truths, myths and stories upon which our culture has been based, I respond to the pain and anger, the stilettos and handbags, the childbirth and ageing of women under the scrutiny of an eye that simultaneously venerates and shrouds.