Susannah Nicol

My practice is a meditation on emotional reactions, honing in on how this transpires throughout and within female experiences.  Spanning prevalent personal, social and political issues for women and with a current focus on states of vexation, I explore emotional reactions through angry female iconography. I have chosen this concept in response to observing repressed female anger in everyday instances. Traditionally an unwelcome trait for women to have, anger has been continually muted with dire consequences for women. However, as Jennifer Cox notes in her book 'Women Are Angry', since 2021 women are reportedly 6 percent angrier than men. With this in mind, through my paintings I hope to normalise female expressions of discernment.  

Considering the everyday emotions of women is important in relation to my source imagery. Most often I use stills taken from online video, choosing young women as they are more likely to suppress their anger due to social backlash. By pausing the video at unexpected moments I break the facade revealing what can be perceived as their suppressed emotions.