My portfolio
My work explores how society affects as women. Looking at the many layers, masks, roles and expectations that we wear.
I came to art later in life. For me it was the antidote for my mixed up, somewhat lost brain. Some tranquillity in the storm that was my life. I drew to distract myself. I drew to forget. I drew to feel good about myself again.
You see, I once had a successful career as a Creative Director. I was at the top of my game. I was really bloody good at my job. And then I made the decision to start a family. Leaving work seemed like the right thing to do. The juggle was too hard. Child care too expensive. The hours; unforgiving. And there it began, the slow drip drip drip of losing my self-worth.
At first you enjoy the time. You get to be there for all the firsts. You cherish the fact that you can watch them grow.
But then one day it hits you. You don’t know who you are any more. Apart from someone’s mum, or someone’s wife, you no longer have an identity of your own.
Who was I?
I could tell you all the things I wasn’t… I wasn’t thin enough. I wasn’t fit enough. I wasn’t clever enough. I wasn’t funny enough. I wasn’t rich enough. I wasn’t young enough. I wasn’t relevant enough.
I wasn’t good enough.
I had fallen into the trap. The trap of a society that profits from our self doubt. The trap that keeps us small. In our place.
So what next...
An evolution
My art is about me. It’s about you. It’s about anyone raging against a society that wants us to feel bad about ourselves. That needs us to hate how we look, what we wear, how we live, so it can profit from our self-doubt.
It’s for everyone who believes that beauty is within all of us. Regardless of how we look. It’s for everyone who needs to hear that YES, they are enough. They deserve love. Now, not later with conditions. Right now.
It’s for everyone who believes that women deserve to be equal. That we deserve to be safe. To be valued. To be seen and heard.
Because in a society that profits from your self doubt, loving yourself is an act of rebellion.