ARTWORK > LADIES OF LEISURE

The World After Courbet
mixed media on paper
8 feet 5 inches x 4 feet 3 inches
2011
The Horrible Rococo Turkey Woman/Portrait of Doria Grey
mixed media on paper
8 feet 5 inches x 4 feet 3 inches
2011
Maria The Golden Robot Leaves Metropolis For Vacation
mixed media on paper
9 feet x 4 feet 3 inches
2011
Madame Aurora
graphite on paper
30" x 22"
2010
Intrigue
graphite on paper
30" x 22"
2010
Lost Innocent
pencil on paper
30" x 22"
2011
The Sumptuous Pirate Captain
mixed media on paper
44x53
2011
The Boudoir is "Delightful"
mixed media on paper
40x43
2011
Lola The Golden Robot
mixed media on paper
36x45
2011
In The Faults of Our Stars And Beams
mixed media on paper
8 and 1/2 x 11
2010
Struggle Has Meaning
mixed media on paper
8 and 1/2 x 11
2010
Mermaid, Fish Or Other
collage on paper
8 and 1/2 x 11
2010
Down By The Sea
collage on paper
8 and 1/2 x 11
2010
Prude
collage on paper
30x44
2011
Going To The Oscars
collage on paper
8 and 1/2 x 11
2010
Fashionista In The City
collage on paper
8 and 1/2 x 11
2010
How Are You Going To Cut Yourself Out Of This One?
collage on paper
8 and 1/2 x 11
2010
The Hair Dresser
encaustic on wood panel
3x4 feet
2010
Voluptuous
collage on paper
30x44
2011
Death Jam!
collage on paper
30x44
2011
The Cat Lady
collage on paper
30x44
2011

From 2010-2011, I created this body of work for the Drawing and Painting Graduate Exhibition at Ontario College of Art and Design University.

Artist Statement

How can a piece of feminist art provide a site of seduction and imagination? As a female artist, it is important to me to investigate this question from a gendered position. I employ collage in my work because it allows me to use an assemblage of different representations of women to create new and exaggerated female forms. My interest lies in how experimentation in collage and mixed media can provide a space of sensual engagement for the viewer. The mixed media surface uses various textures to reflect on a wide range of references: from glamour models to the barbaric centerfolds that exist in the exaggerated world of fashion.

Through my research and artwork I aim to understand how the historical representation of the ‘mysterious seductress’ applies to contemporary female identity. My work investigates the thinking, manners and expectations of upper-class Western women from the Enlightenment to today in relation to seduction. I am interested in looking at why fabric and patterns, portraiture and fantasy, underwear, hairstyles and headgear played - and continues to play - such a significant role in the identity, power and sexuality of women.