WOMAN, My Own Point of View with REBECCA WILSON

AUGUST 17 – SEPTEMBER 17

WOMAN, My Own Point of View

The title piece of this exhibition, Woman depicts an international symbol for women, two ‘X’ chromo- somes, a uterus and a foot. A quiet nod to Frida Kahlo and other iconic female artists who paint their life experiences, these symbols invite focus on the physicality and biology of womanhood that guides and impacts the way the artist walks through her life. Wilson is reflecting on life as a menopaus- al woman, an experience only made possible by her age and female biological, hormonal landscape.

My Own Point of View, the sub-title of this exhibition is a quote from Virginia Woolf’s A Writer’s Diary (first pub- lished in 1953): ‘…something which I want to write; my own point of view…’. Wilson threads the female voice through these semi-autobiographical works which are deceivingly upbeat, colourful and humorous, while pondering serious content about the artist’s experience of life as a woman and that of women more broadly. The shift from youthful flower to mature woman is a transition that our society may not want to know about, but the lived experience has led Wilson to ‘speak up’ in these works and illuminate her ‘own point of view’.

OPENING EVENT – Saturday August 19th from 2pm

Come and join us to celebrate the launch of Rebecca Wilson’s new narrative collection: Woman.

Rebecca takes a humorous but sharp look at language, beauty, ageing, mental health, Feminism and the history of women artists. Referencing Virginia Woolf’s ‘My Own Point of View’, these paintings are a personal expression of the artist’s female experience and voice.

Join host Jenny Barry, author Kim Kelly, and artist Rebecca Wilson for a fun and engaging chat about all things Woman.

Sunday September 24th – ARTIST TALK with Rebecca Wilson – Join Rebecca as she talk about her work and all things WOMAN – 11am to 3pm

REBECCA WILSON

In the 1990s Rebecca Wilson studied her B.A Fine Arts at the National Art School, Sydney, and she went on to complete her M.A. Fine Arts at the College of Fine Art at the UNSW in Paddington, Sydney (2002). In 2001 and 2007 Rebecca was a finalist in the Blake Prize for Religious Art and her work was included in the Blake Tour 2001-2.

In 2007 Rebecca’s Australianism exhibition was the start of her investigation into Australian myths and icons such as Ned Kelly. From 2010 she started researching the life of Kate Kelly, the sister of Australia’s most infamous bushranger. From 2015 to 2022 her Kate Kelly Collection toured from Sydney across regional NSW and into Victoria. In 2018 Rebecca was invited to a London art fair where she exhibited some of her Kate Kelly paintings and presented a talk at London’s Central Library about her Kate Kelly research and paintings. She continued to develop and tour her Kate Kelly work which culminated in her fictionalised biography, Kate Kelly: the true story of Ned Kelly’s little sister, published by Allen & Unwin in 2021.

From 2011-2016 Rebecca taught art and design at TAFE Western Institute in Bathurst and Orange. At the beginning of 2016 Rebecca completed an artist residency at Red Gate Gallery in Beijing, China. In 2017-2018 she worked as Communications & Project Officer for the regional arts development organisation, Arts Out West, in Bathurst.

Across 2018 and 2019, Rebecca’s series of narrative works and accompanying self-published catalogue, A Portrait of Landscape and Time in Hill End, toured Sydney, Grenfell and Lithgow and was shown as the solo exhibition Mythmakers, Heroes and Villains at Bathurst Regional Art Gallery in 2021. Extensive media coverage about Rebecca’s work can be located online.

VIRTUAL GALLERY & ONLINE SHOP