Inspired by my 1980 studies in feminist theology, I was moved to begin ‘reclaiming our religious imagination and our sacred powers of naming…new dreams and to see new visions’, for I believe that we need to see positive affirmative imagery about ourselves.
The selection of “Heroic Women” was a personal one. My concern was and is primarily to present a visual celebration of women’s stories that have touched me. Thus in honour of the `celebration’, all the heroines are dressed in gold and the paintings brightly ornamented with decorative patterning – I wanted the pictures to sparkle like jewels. The emotional emphasis in the paintings is often conveyed in a very natural women’s response. For example, Sarah, stands laughing behind a tree while she eavesdrops Abraham two visitors discussing her future pregnancy, or Rachel shows a mischievous humour as she sits demurely on the camel bag in which she has hid her `household gods’, pretending to be `womanly indisposed’, or again “Claudia”, Pontius Pilate’s wife waking up from a nightmare with crosses floating in the ceiling and fishes swimming under her bed.
