I’ve just waved goodbye to this small oil painting as it’s heading off to Venice for a show of 15 women artists at Villa Lattes. The exhibition is to celebrate International Women’s Day and commemorate the New York shirtwaist strike of 1090 (sometimes known as the uprising of the 20,000) when female garment workers successfully renegotiated pay and working conditions for women in New York’s sweatshops.
I’m very happy to have been selected to be part of this group show with female labour at it’s heart. The invisible and unpaid work that women do (on top of their jobs) to keep family life running smoothly is something I try to explore through my paintings and drawings. Attempting to make this ordinary, mundane and undervalued labour a subject worthy of fine art.
Second Shift, 2022
Oil paint on 5 x 7” gesso board
23.5 x 28.5cm open framed
