AND THEN SHE WAS GONE
MEDIUM: PHOTOGRAPHY
‘And Then She Was Gone explores the symbolism and ambiguity of the female form within the canon of art history, with the apple appearing in this work as a recurrent motif. Used throughout myths, stories, art and literature, the apple has become a richly potent symbol; of knowledge, temptation, health, fertility, and even sexuality.
Traversing alongside the apple, and at times being depicted with, or even compared to, the female nude is an important and ever-present figure within art history. Hans Biedermann likened whole apples to that of womens breasts and the core of a halved apple to the vulva in his 1994 book Dictionary of Symbolism. The role of the female within these works was rarely that of individuality, but rather, of a passive object of beauty; woman became an ambiguous form to then morph into man's greatest desires.
In the same vein of Sarah Lucas, Yoko Ono, and Birgit Jugenssen, And Then She Was Gone takes from this objectification of the female form and seeks to challenge its very core. We see a colorless figure, almost overshadowed by the bright red of the apples. This forces us to face up to history’s objectification of femininity and challenges us to step back and observe the woman as a whole. It asks the question “Does the work still hold the same meaning when a woman has been completely replaced by an object, and if that object is ambiguous in its own right, how does that affect the work?”’
Miranda Westaway, 20, Brisbane - Australia ✯ IG: @the_dark_queen_of_art ✯ www.mirandawestaway.com
“Miranda Westaway is a twenty-year-old artist, who was born, raised and is currently living in Brisbane, Australia. At present, she is undertaking her Bachelors of Visual Arts, where she is immersing herself into the rich world of creative and philosophical thinking. Over the past few years, Westaway has had her work displayed in multiple exhibitions, including ones that she co-curated. She has also had her work featured by the band Quinn the Brain and in the Queensland Gallery of Modern Art’s magazine, Artlines. Westaway’s work expands across disciplines, from painting, sculpture and printmaking, to creative-writing and poetry. Prominent within her work are themes of the self, memory, otherness, and a fascination with all things melancholy and at times morbid. In particular, Westaway has drawn inspiration from the likes of Louise Bourgeois, Yoko Ono, and Francesca Woodman, among others. Not too unfamiliar from that of the late expressionists and surrealists, Westaway seeks to give form to the kooky and melancholic rattle that lives inside her mind; and possibly your mind too.”