Through Female Eyes - Gillian Cronin
4 Story Place, Taupo, Lake Taupo
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An exhibition of bold colourful acrylic paintings celebrating the lives of ordinary women in third world countries.
“So often throughout the history of art, women have been the objects of the artist’s gaze, the artist generally being male, and the artist's model or muse being female. I want to turn the tables and paint a woman's eye view of the world. In particular, having travelled extensively I want my story in paint to be celebrating the lives of ordinary women in third world countries.
Sometime around twenty years ago, I visited Ethiopia. It was my first trip to Africa and it left a profound impression on me, both as a woman and as an artist. Poverty in Africa exists on a completely different scale to the third world living conditions I had previously encountered in Asia and South America.
One of my most potent memories of Ethiopia was about just how hard it was to meet local woman to talk to or connect with. While little boys do at least play in the streets and seemed to enjoy following tourists around and showed curiosity, girls and women were just less visible. If girls weren’t at school they were by and large working and much of that work was domestic work done behind closed doors or in walled courtyards.
A subsequent holiday to Morocco reinforced this memory of “Invisible Women” as I saw elderly men sitting outside the tea shops in the evening but never women. In 2017 we travelled around India and in 2019 I was lucky enough to visit Mexico and Guatemala. During these travels I gathered a rich tapestry of experiences and an overload of inspiration for subsequent paintings. I responded to the warm vibrant colours of India and Mexico as well as the people and the culture.
There is a strong narrative running through my paintings, as I love telling stories, but always balancing the narrative is my own inner sense of harmony, colour, design, and spirituality."
Through Female Eyes is showing in the Taupo Museum Niven Room from Saturday 30 October until Monday 29 November. Taupō Museum is open 7 days from 10am to 4:30pm and entry is free to Taupō District residents with proof of address.
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