Womans Arts Association Wales, Llanover Arts Centre, Romilly Rd, Cardiff CF5 1FH.
Showing 6th Nov. til 16th Dec. 2023.
Being a Full-Time Artist, my studio is filled with experimental pieces, pieces that are very dear to my heart, pieces that I love then hate, and pieces that I think I would never show or exhibit. Having read the criteria for the Autumn Exhibition of The Womans Arts Association Wales, I decided that I would finally show a painting that I started in 2014 and finished in 2021 with a few more tiny touches in 2023. The Criteria for the exhibition piece was Self Portrait and there are no boundaries so this offers unlimited opportunities for self-expression and experimentation, I felt I had something to fit this criteria well. It was a painting I had begun in 2013 because I had never done any kind of self-portrait before or even used paints. When I painted her, she was a Victim and in pain, she had been silenced and cut open, she was me. I no longer identify with this description but there was time in my life that I did.
My thoughts for this particular piece were, that she was one of those cathartic pieces I would do and I threw all my anger, frustration, and sadness into but she would never get shown. In the piece, I was drawn to cover her mouth and this was due to having experienced being silenced myself in many situations throughout my life and also having a speech condition which makes speaking painful and sometimes impossible. I researched the many ways women have experienced being silenced throughout history and was horrified to find The Scolds Bridle, which was an iron headpiece that enclosed the tongue, which was painful and made speaking impossible. It was used between 1550 and 1800 on an unconventional woman who refused to be a quiet and submissive wife. The Crow over the eyes was added a few years later when I began to gain strength, and clarity and reflect on my life experiences. The symbolism and spiritual meaning of a Crow is to self-reflect oneself and values.
I named the piece No Word and with this piece I explore how social and patriarchal expectations affected my identity and growth as a middle-aged woman, living with a non-visible disability that affects my speech. I identified as one
image and the narrative of my consciousness was one of belonging to my environment, but my
experience of my environment and the people around me was otherwise.
I have experienced my environment trying to silence me and push me into the shadows of my
youth. I feel that the patriarchal programming within our societies will only accept the identity of a
woman who is conforming to the ideal image of what is beautiful, and other qualities that are
encouraged are to be quiet, nurturing, agreeable, and subservient. The painting NO WORD is an
expression of the journey I experienced through the realisation of my societal rejection due to my
disability and age. The work was inspired by The Scolds Bridle.
For more information on The Scolds Bridle please click here
For more information regarding the exhibition please visit Llanover Arts Centre and Women’s Arts Association Wales
