Drawing on the historical linage of the representation of women in art, and its ramifications for the objectification of women in contemporary society, Stephanie Leigh interrogates these historical precedents and generates contemporary feminist forms in Suspended Woman: A Weighty Burden at MARS Gallery until 30 July 2016.
Working with painting, sculpture and installation, Leigh’s work draws on tropes of the historical and modernist canon such as the reclining pose, ideas about beauty, the naked fetish and cultural and political oppression. These concepts in her works are reconfigured in her contemporary practice to uncover modes of resistance and change that renegotiate female objectification.
A Melbourne based artist, Leigh has achieved critical success as an emerging artist with a number of prizes and exhibitions. In 2014, she graduated from her Masters at RMIT University in Melbourne. Following this, Leigh was selected to exhibit at Linden New art for their 2015 PhD and Masters exhibition and went on to win the MARS Gallery award.
In 2015, she was invited to co-curate AS IF: Echoes of the Women’s Art Register at West Space, Melbourne, which was supported by Creative Victoria, City of Melbourne and City of Yarra. Leigh was also invited to exhibit in F Generation: feminism, art, progressions at George Paton Gallery in 2015 – a major exhibition of Australian feminist art.
Suspended Woman: A Weighty Burden
MARS Gallery, 7 James Street, Windsor
Exhibition continues to 30 July 2016
Information: www.stephaniefredaleigh.com
Image: Stephanie Leigh, Suspended Woman: A Weighty Burden, MARS Gallery 2016 – photo by Clare Rae