Bio

I am an artist, researcher, lover of experimentation, reader, and academic, but before all of that, I am a woman in my 20s experiencing a world that was not built for me. 

For much of my practice, I have unearthed painful memories and navigated twisted experiences, facilitated by photography and drawing, developing hyper-realistic depictions of flashing images that appear during moments of discomfort, grief, or sheer momentary insanity. Incredibly inspired by artists such as The Viennese Actionists and VALIE EXPORT, I enjoy developing work that explores the limits of social morality and the human psyche, focusing on the female experience and the way it is under attack by systems of institutional misogyny and capitalist ideologies. Through this lens, I attempt to make subtle statements within each image featured in my work, blurring the lines between sensitivity and outrage, in hopes of creating quiet protests about competing in a tilted rat race I didn't sign up for.

BY-PRODUCT

Throughout my initial experimentation, I began exploring the ways in which sexual trauma manifests in the body, specifically focusing on the female body and its relationship with patriarchal practices and capitalist ideologies. I initially began using tights to represent organic, skin-like material, wrapping them in layers around a female mannequin torso, before ripping, tearing, and distressing them. 

I then decided to reflect on and begin developing this process, wrapping the tights around old frames rather than mannequins, as a way to further explore how the fabric mimics an organic, skin-like substance. I continued tearing, ripping, and distressing the tights, using tension to create an effect that reminded me of a scarred section of skin, stretch marks, and an almost web-like material. During this process, I reflected on the way the relationship between garments such as tights and feminist movements during the 1970s, specifically in relation to the blurred line between empowerment and sexualisation, which has become part of a wider discourse in current feminist critique, and the ways that patriarchal systems have capitalised on this exact discourse. 

Whilst experimenting with these tights, I continued to research sexual assault and violence, a theme which has carried through much of my practice this year and came across an advert for an at-home rape testing kit called ‘Enough.’ I then began researching rape kits, or Early Evidence Kits (EEK), noting down non-intimate areas of skin that were tested in cases of rape and sexual violence. Focusing on these areas- fingerprints, fingernails, hair, teeth, saliva and gums- I used a Macro lens to take photos of these areas of my body, then selected four images which I intended to draw; a large part of my practice I wanted to revisit. I have displayed these drawings, alongside prints of my photography, on wooden boards hung on the wall, which were then wrapped in tights in a variety of shades of black, red, and flesh tones. Opposite this display, I have experimented with the large pillars in the sculpture court balcony, wrapping them in long sections of fabric (the same material as the tights) that have been distressed, ripped, and torn in the same way as my initial experimentation with tights wrapped around frames.

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Contemporary Art Practice - MA
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