Don’t Look

“I play with ideas of gender and
representations of women. I have always been using nudity or exploring the
tension between the naked and dressed body. I wish to portray them in a strong,
dignified way, not through some soft pose people might expect.”
Sadie Lee

“In this small selection of new works I am expanding on the issues surrounding
the realistic depiction of women and how this familiar genre can have the power
to provoke and unnerve.
Based around the notion that
femininity is still considered the ideal for women in western society, in these paintings I am
looking at femininity as a constructed identity heavily reliant on external
visual information.
Although influenced and inspired
by traditional paintings of women throughout history, I am aware of these
painted women as idealised fantasies. The women in my paintings go far beyond
the passive status of mere decorative objects.
As their eyes lock with yours and
you stand transfixed before them, you cannot help but wonder who they are,
where are they and what they want with you. The gestures could be comical: the
fist punching through the masculine fly in some pseudo-vaudevillian penis
parody; the 1950’s style prim and proper frock hitched up coquettishly to
reveal plain, everyday underwear, but the blank staring eyes do not suggest
humour, more a vaguely sinister presence. You dare not laugh, just in case.
Does the woman who shields her
huge, semi-clad body from your gaze invite or expel you? Has something taken
place on the unmade bed, or is it just about to?
These paintings, all based on
real women or self-portraits, display appearances or behaviour that are somehow
‘unladylike’. They are also united by a sense of vulnerability, combined
uncomfortably with an overtly strong sexual autonomy. By presenting these
contradictions as frozen fragments of time I attempt to imply a narrative which
the viewer must piece together by asking these questions. In effect the whole
experience of viewing becomes a performance in itself in which the audience is
actively involved in order to come to their own conclusions. The title of this
group of works may well have been: Don’t Just Look”.
Sadie Lee

Mala galerija (Moderna galerija),
14.10. – 24.10.99
Tor.-sob.: 10.00 –
18.00
Nedelja: 10.00 – 13.00

In collaboration
with Moderna galerija Ljubljana
With the support of The British Council
Thanks to: Nataša
Velikonja & Lesbo