Born of Woman 2023

'Born of Woman', is a diptych sell-portrait consisting of two stretched canvases side by side. The aim of the work is to represent the connection women have with each other and the outside world. Whether or not we are of the same race, age or speak the same language, there is this unspoken connection we all have, like an invisible string that ties us together. I feel this connection is based on shared experience and is something others will never comprehend; here it is represented as the sun and the moon. Embroidery was one of the few artistic practices that women were allowed to take up. It was once a source of expression and power for women as well as being a sign of their powerlessness. The umbilical cord sewn into the subject's mouths is a small reference to a term my grandmother would say to me, "Girls should be seen and not heard".

Women in history have been silenced, not only literally but figuratively. We've been robbed of the ability to speak up, to participate and be experienced as a free person with rights and this is something I wish to continue to explore in my practice.