Mosaik has invited curator and artist, Rebecca Kate to speak about what encouraged her upcoming group exhibition "Girlhood', bringing together works by the artist collective "The Fort'. Rebecca draws her curatorial concepts from personal events and hurdles she has faced in her life. "Girlhood" investigates and explores perceptions of female metamorphism and transformation.
- Isabella
My name is Rebecca Kate and I am a visual artist and curator. I’m involved in an artist collective named ‘The Fort’ which exhibits in Melbourne regularly. My idea for the collective and curating began last year as a consequence of becoming very ill in 2012. I had to stop working and went to many GP’s and specialists, trying different medications. I was diagnosed with a chronic pain condition: vulvodynia last year. Having not been able to work for so long, or leave the house much, I began thinking of projects that would keep my mind occupied. I started running small shows with 5-20 artists at different venues and a collective was born! For each show, I’ve tried to have a new theme.
Towards the end of last year I decided to take the plunge and expand the collective. I began emailing strangers and sourcing more artists to create larger shows. Our last show was in January and we had 50 visual artists on the walls, plus the work of 10 animaters/film makers. It was a huge night, 400 people come to the show - and that was amazing! Due to health problems, there's been a bit of a gap between running exhibitions but I’m hoping to have them monthly again. I’ve got lots of theme ideas and artists in mind. ‘Girlhood’ is the next exhibition I'm co-creating. It will be opening at the ‘Union Club Hotel’ Fitzroy on 24th of April. Here's a little information on the show:
“Through photography, painting, drawing, installation work and various materials ‘The Fort’ bring you ‘Girlhood’, a group art exhibition. The exhibition aims to explore the transformation from childhood to adulthood from the perspective of the female eye. ‘Girlhood’ seeks to address issues that women deal with; living in a sexualized world, misinformation about bodies and sexuality as well as gender expectations. Girlhood features the work of over 30 artists from Australia.”
The idea to have a show about girlhood came about a few months ago when I was feeling really isolated and unhappy with my body because of my illness. Suffering vulvodynia has caused a big strain on my sense of self. I'd never really thought much about my gender or sexual organs before becoming ill but vulvodynia has forced me into thinking about it everyday! I am often in pain and wish it would go away. My womanly parts have become the center of my thoughts most of the time. For a while the pain was very confronting and I found myself on this whole journey - disliking my body on and off again, wishing I had a new one. One that worked. One that was okay. I decided I wanted to do something constructive with all my emotions and turn them into something positive - that is when ‘Girlhood’ was born. I wanted to create a safe haven for women to express all the beauty and struggles of day to day life.
"Girlhood' opens at 7pm Friday 24th April at the Union Club Hotel in Fitzroy and runs until Friday 29th May.
Artwork by Susanna Rose Sykes
Artwork by Andrea Sinclair
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