Symbols of strength, power and triumph are often feminine. In Greek mythology, the winged goddess Nike represented victory in times of peaceful competition and unrest.
She is closely aligned with Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. Among others; African, Baltic, Celtic, Egyptian and Hindu mythologies also contain figures of female victory, and indeed nothing typifies the Antipodean woman more than strength. She exists in a harsh climate; exposed to the weather and the reality of her isolation to the rest of the world.
However, traditionally, the Western ideal of success for a woman is measured by her beauty and in her ability to raise children, keep a happy husband, and a tidy home. Women whoveered from this trajectory were at risk of being scorned. Increasingly, from the nineteenth century, women began to be celebrated for their successes–though often acquiring the habits of successful men to be assimilated into positions of social power. Arguably, women still struggle for recognition of their achievements if the achievements themselves are outside of the superficial.
This exhibition, ‘Victory’, seeks to highlight women photographers working in Victoria. Moving through landscape and manmade environments, the artists included accomplish great feats; holding their clenched fists high, charging forward. Sometimes cheeky, sometimes a little more serious; the work places women at the central point of focus. These artists are adventurers, conquering their surrounds and championing ideas. Gracefully this woman moves, dances, leaps; like Helen Garner, Ponch Hawkes, and Joan Kirner, these artists take ownership of their craft sounding a barbaric yawp.
Featuring: Ariel Cameron, Bella Capezio, Coby Baker, Dianna Wells, Hoda Afshar, Jessie DiBlasi, Kate Golding, Kate Robertson, Katrin Koenning, Linsey Gosper, Rebecca Nadjowsk and Zoe Croggon.
She is closely aligned with Athena, the goddess of wisdom and war. Among others; African, Baltic, Celtic, Egyptian and Hindu mythologies also contain figures of female victory, and indeed nothing typifies the Antipodean woman more than strength. She exists in a harsh climate; exposed to the weather and the reality of her isolation to the rest of the world.
However, traditionally, the Western ideal of success for a woman is measured by her beauty and in her ability to raise children, keep a happy husband, and a tidy home. Women whoveered from this trajectory were at risk of being scorned. Increasingly, from the nineteenth century, women began to be celebrated for their successes–though often acquiring the habits of successful men to be assimilated into positions of social power. Arguably, women still struggle for recognition of their achievements if the achievements themselves are outside of the superficial.
This exhibition, ‘Victory’, seeks to highlight women photographers working in Victoria. Moving through landscape and manmade environments, the artists included accomplish great feats; holding their clenched fists high, charging forward. Sometimes cheeky, sometimes a little more serious; the work places women at the central point of focus. These artists are adventurers, conquering their surrounds and championing ideas. Gracefully this woman moves, dances, leaps; like Helen Garner, Ponch Hawkes, and Joan Kirner, these artists take ownership of their craft sounding a barbaric yawp.
Featuring: Ariel Cameron, Bella Capezio, Coby Baker, Dianna Wells, Hoda Afshar, Jessie DiBlasi, Kate Golding, Kate Robertson, Katrin Koenning, Linsey Gosper, Rebecca Nadjowsk and Zoe Croggon.
