Graphite, premier water-soluble pencil, acrylic paint and archival ink on cradled birch wood panel.
820 x 820 mm.
AUD $1,950.00
There is something inherently fixating,
about the form that women are forced into.
With little forgiveness,
they must adhere to the reproductive quality of their bodies,
and all the joy and dramatic repercussions.
I am interested in the biological and social consequence of being a woman.
It is my understanding that throughout history women have been grossly underestimated, misused and misunderstood.
Inspired through a fascination with birds and their most beautiful and intricately woven nests, I became intrigued with the process of nesting. I came to see that commonly and especially throughout history, in the home women create the nest. The nest being ‘the comfortable home for sheltering young’. When I observed through my observation of birds’ nests, the work and attendance required, I could not help but find an affiliation between the nesting of the bird and the nesting of the female lady bird. This created my concept of the NEST HEAD series.
NEST HEAD is a collection of paintings that celebrate women in the home sphere, but also asks a question about the current position of women in society. The quest for women to do more, yet somehow, and especially globally, a demeaning dominance often remains. Despite the demands of the workplace, an expectation that women tend in an eternally present nature, to the details and demands of the home sphere. I am not answering questions, I am asking them. I merely want women to question the basic assumptions of how gender dictates their lives.
It is through being an Australian woman, cultivated in the rustic botanic beauty of the bush and now as a nesting mother with a bird’s eye perspective, that I draw on the intellect of the spiritual light – where our only real compass is that of the internal, eternal fire. With your mind in your heart, there is the opportunity to see the world with ‘fresh eyes’.
© 2023 meghan byrne
