Siusan Patterson

I believe that women are amazing! We hold up more than half the sky, and I love how empowering it is for women to support each other. Not every woman has a voice, or if they do, they may be unable to use it. So it's important that those of us who can, raise our voices in support of those who can't.My work is inspired by the female forms found in Renaissance paintings, which are typically depicted through the male gaze. I reimagine these women and reinterpret them through the female lens. My work is not overly concerned with ornate depictions, but rather I give the women a sense of empowerment and self-determination. I use multiple flat layers of paint to generate large figurative paintings in bold bright colors that create a sense of visibility and empowerment.I weave together narratives from myths and legends with historical images to interrogate how we express and influence cultural attitudes about contemporary women and other marginalized figures, and how this affects gender politics. Identity and body image are core influences in my work, and I explore how women are impacted by societal gatekeeping, where individuals or communities are excluded from, or policed, by the broader community to which they belong, and are impeded from participating in discussion, from entering a space they would otherwise be entitled to, or from claiming and expressing their own identity.