“Re-Vision—the act of looking back, of seeing
with fresh eyes, of entering an old text from a new critical direction—
is for women more than a chapter in cultural history: it is an act of survival”


— Adrienne Rich 1972


I am inspired by the literature I love, from gothic novels to murder mysteries. I draw inspiration by closely studying a text and bringing the words I find most intruiging to my research, and bring them to my canvas. I look to give focus to the characters that are perhaps overlooked; often victimised female characters, who lack agency and are solely used as plot devices. Historically, media has been frequently used as ‘a method of reinforcing social hierarchies and delegitimising women’s roles in society’(Fotaki and Pullen, 2023). In a society dominated by men, this perspective of women has thrived and reduced women to certain, often negative archetypal representations. My work rebutes this unfair representation, challenging them through a feminst reimagining of characters that have been used to establish this system.   Researching these characters from a feminist perspective, has revealed a far more sympathetic and three-dimensional perception of their stories. Feminist retellings of mythology, provide an interesting insight into this re-examination of historical popular media. 

My process starts with research, through literature, articles, and finding theories that interest me. For example Laura Mulvey’s term ‘male-gaze’(Mulvey, 1975), the idea that women in cinema are objectified by the lens,  rendering them passive and men active. This research helps to build a well-rounded subject and character, finding ways in which I can bring out more than just what’s on the page. Through theories and articles, I can find strong feminist standpoints that I can infuse into my paintings, and through reading I can really get into the heart of the character and bring that to my sketchbook or my canvas. The sketchbook is where I take my reserach, compiling information through sketches creating the character how I see them and want to portray them. Here I research components and props that I can use to make my painting more interesting and to tell the narrative I’m trying to get across to the audience. I try out various compositions and concepts before turning them into oil paintings,  to see what will best engage the audience and invite them into the dicussion of the representation of women in media. I want them to look at my paintings and question why everything is there, and what each element means for the painting.