MTU Gallery at 46 Grand Parade, Cork City T12 VN56

21-28 November

11am - 4pm / Mon-Fri

Artist statement

This research project investigates arenas of bodily agency and autonomy in image making questioning concepts of beauty and self-image and the expectations by society on women to conform to a dominant hyper-feminisation. Drawing from my own perspective as a woman, politicised by my experience growing up amongst the exploitive media culture of the 2000’s, my drawings present a counter point to the current prevailing emphasis on unrealistic beauty standards expected of women in the contemporary world.

My work emanates and refers to the reality of human embodiment, acknowledging a being that is alive, secretes fluids and creates stains in a way that is often deemed taboo. Interacting with numerous drawing materials in an instinctual, often performative way, I am able to create an immediate bodily register of my embodied presence which reflects on the urgency of women’s need to reclaim their agency and autonomy over their own bodily image and reality.

Physically responding to these topics using embodied drawing practices and methodologies, I respond to my own bodily experience through a direct engagement with materials and the use of performative drawing processes. By employing multiple drawing techniques and incorporating the body as a tool or site of exploration, I create a direct and expressive response to emphasise the research that underpins my work.