“Femme forte” (French for “strong woman”) historically refers to a seventeenth-century artistic and literary trope in France depicting heroic women from history and scripture – Judith, Lucretia and others – as embodiments of moral fortitude, virtue and courage.
While creating this exhibition, I searched for encouraging female figures in both distant history and our recent local past. I searched for them to remind myself that absolutely anything is possible.
The being in this painting is held in a deep crouch, gathering force. Her layered, spiralling torso is composed of dazzling sunrises and sunsets, of delicate lights and soft twilights – the full spectrum of the sun’s path. She compresses herself only to rise higher, ready to spring upward and unfurl her radiant potential.
Femme Forte
“Femme forte” (French for “strong woman”) historically refers to a seventeenth-century artistic and literary trope in France depicting heroic women from history and scripture – Judith, Lucretia and others – as embodiments of moral fortitude, virtue and courage. While creating this exhibition, I searched for encouraging female figures in both distant history and our recent…
