International Women's Day, 2018
Hosier Lane, Melbourne
In 2018, in response to another artist’s anti-rape artwork that was defaced in Hosier Lane, I was part of a parents group who formed to create the first feminist art intervention in Hosier Lane. On International Women’s Day, 8th March, 2018, around 15 people attended including babies, partners and children. Over the course of the day the group installed crochet snowflakes, activist bunting and paste-ups.
In the years that followed I continued to coordinate a group of artists to install their work on International Women’s Day in Hosier Lane, Melbourne.
In 2020 I extended the call out beyond the feminist parents group to include all cis and trans women, as well as non-binary people who felt comfortable participating in an event that focuses on the experiences of women. And again, children, babies and partners were welcome on the day.
The aim of the event was to create a safe space for everyone to express themselves and exhibit their artwork. It is also about reclaiming public space for women, trans, non-binary and children and their voices as street art is highly dominated by men.
Ode to Pioneering Women 2018–2020
Hosier Lane, Melbourne
In 2018 I created Ode to Pioneering Women; an illustrative paste-up installation that celebrates the lives of radical women while acknowledging the absence of monuments to women in the city of Melbourne, and around the world. This installation highlights the historical achievements of women that go unrecognised in public space.
The subjects for my paste-up are close to me; Narelle Grech (who passed in 2013) was my best friend and an activist and spokesperson for donor conceived people, and Alli Coster, a friend who embodies the inner strength and generosity of everyday women.
In 2019 my ongoing monument series, Ode to Pioneering Women grew from depicting Narelle Grech and Alli Coster to representing five more women.
These women include disability activist, journalist and comedian Stella Young, Indigenous community advocate & Yorta Yorta Elder, Aunty Pam, the first woman to stand for national parliament and Suffragette Vida Goldstein, Young Australian of the Year Merita Cheng and Equal Rights Activist Zelda D’Aprano.
In 2020 my monument series, Ode to Pioneering Women concluded with a final addition to the series, jazz singer, transgender and queer person of colour, Mama Alto.
