Ryder, C (2024) Society of Women Artists 163rd Exhibition 2024: Zoom Call and Gold Stripe. The Society of Women Artists | 163rd Annual Open Exhibition, 25th Jun - 29th Jun 2024, Mall Galleries, The Mall, London SW1. [Show/Exhibition]

Preview	Image Zoom Call - Jan Bigg-Wither - 5MB.jpg - Published Version Download (1MB) | Preview
Preview	Image Gold Stripe - Silvia Ziranek.jpg - Published Version Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract

Zoom Call: Jan Bigg-Wither
During The Covid-19 pandemic of 2020 – 2021, UK government guidelines related to social distancing led to the widespread adoption of the Zoom platform to enable continued interpersonal communication. This watercolour portrait was painted from a screengrab, taken by the artist, during such a Zoom meeting with businesswoman and friend, Jan Bigg-Wither. The portrait is part of a series called 'Portraits of Personal Style', which depicts a diverse range of women and girls, whose nonconformist approaches to personal expression make a valuable contribution to the broader landscape of contemporary style. The series aims to challenge the recurrent female stereotypes that permeate popular culture and the visual arts, where women and girls are frequently represented as erotic, sexualized, infantilized, vulnerable or submissive, in imagery designed to satisfy the male gaze. ‘Zoom Call’ expresses how Jan’s unwavering spirit and sense of personal style endured in the face of uncertain times and formidable challenges to social interaction.

Gold Stripe
‘Gold Stripe’ is a portrait of performance artist Silvia Ziranek. It forms part of a series called 'Portraits of Personal Style', in which a diverse range of women and girls with nonconformist approaches to personal expression are depicted in ways that defy patriarchal conventions of female representation.
Throughout the history of art, where images of women were traditionally created to satisfy the dominant patriarchal culture and the male gaze, older women are frequently depicted as frail and vulnerable, or as obsolete, sexually bankrupt anachronisms, particularly when contrasted with images of young women, typically depicted as sexual objects. Silvia’s energetic presence and playful approach to fashion and style inspired me to paint her portrait to present an alternative, more positive view of the older woman.
In the execution of this portrait, I sought to capture Silvia’s lively personality, bemused expression, and idiosyncratic personal style. On the day I met her, along with her bright magenta hair, cluster pearl earrings, beaded bauble necklace and electric blue eyeliner, Silvia wore a gold stripe painted on her nose. The resulting portrait was painted in watercolour, with the gold stripe on Silvia’s nose applied using imitation gold leaf.

Item Type:	Show/Exhibition
Uncontrolled Keywords:	portrait; portraiture; water colour; watercolour; water colours; watercolour portrait; water colour portrait; painting; water colour painting; watercolour painting; watercolours; diversity; female representation
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > N Visual arts (General) For photography, see TR N Fine Arts > ND Painting N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general
Divisions:	Art and Design
Related URLs:	http://www.carolryder.com/
SWORD Depositor:	A Symplectic
Date Deposited:	28 Nov 2024 15:30
Last Modified:	28 Nov 2024 15:30
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/24899

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