GRIT | Art Exhibition & Event Series

An art exhibition and event series dedicated to exploring the complexities of female rage, and the power found in self-expression — tickets link in bio. GRIT: OPENING NIGHT ✨⛓️‍💥 Doors open for gallery viewing featuring the following visual artists — @itsaleisharose , @amyjaneartist , @bridget.h.gurrie , @caity_arts , @clo__love , @ratagainstthemachine , @eyefleur , @__germ___ , @lucyfart , @freakinfreakart , @mayatunova , @oluwa.jpg , @_pjeg , @rawink.com.au , @rubyfordart , @fishsuits & @trashbinn.art . Engage in an artist panel featuring Grit Founder, @mayatunova . Along with @ratagainstthemachine , @fishsuits and @priestess.triss . This will be moderated by @hudathegoddess . Afterwards, @homeofblackink will host an Open Mic, providing a space for the community to share poetry, reflections, and thoughts on femininity and expression. Complimentary beverages will be provided by @rangebrewing . — GRIT: LIFE DRAWING WORKSHOP 🗝️ You will have the chance to create art inspired by live, nude models. This intimate session invites artists of all levels to explore with selected sketches displayed in the Grit @absurda.space gallery. Sounds by @nunyacnt . — GRIT: CLOSING NIGHT 💫💿 Enjoy a final chance to experience the artworks in @absurda.space . It will feature selected works from the life drawing workshop. Community Craft Night, Hosted by @thirdspace.bne Join us for a hands-on Community Craft session, where you can gather, create, and connect in an inspiring and open environment. Feel free to bring a project you’re working on or we are happy to give you some mediums to work with! @refuge_meanjin Sounds In The Basement 8pm - @scalymoth69 9pm - @chubbz0001 10pm - @eyeaam 11pm - @dameeeela 12am - @n33sha_alexander Modern Art Performances by @verytenderflesh & @gogobumhole . — Supported by the @flamingcarnations and the Lord Mayor’s Community Fund. Poster by @_bigshirt

a thank you & farewell to everyone who made @gritweek possible <33

AFFIRMATIONS 2024 Sam Quyền Huỳnh Print, 594mm x 420mm NFS AFFIRMATIONS are meant to remember. These words remind me who l am —or rather, who l'm trying to be. Em không có sức cho tầm bậy tầm bạ. Người xưa của con ngồi ở đây. Con muốn đi về. I press these words into the page and they are no longer solely mine. You and I are in relation. This page is our thread. Face me honestly as you read in your voice and mine. Genocide is everywhere. In this colony, under heteropatriachal, capitalist, settler-colonial systems, under white supremacy and antiblackness. Eighty-five "australian" women have been murdered by these systems. Indigenous people, women, and children all over the world are disappeared by the state every day. Not everyone will still be here by the time you read this. What harm are you complicit in, standing in this room? We are all capable of the same evil. Only you know what more you can do. Thương người như thể thương thân. Love others as you love yourself. IG: @fishsuits

WHO ARE YOU? 2024 Ruby Ford Textile, mixed media Price negotiable The pressure feels constant to make a decision, who are you? Which box do you fit in? The need to define can become so intense leaving you so frustrated by your unknown identity to the point of not recognising yourself at all. // SHUT THE FUCK UP 2024 Ruby Ford Acrylic on canvas, 50cm x 90cm $400 During childhood, helplessness was a feeling all too familiar. In an unsafe home, I learned quickly that the only control I had was to get in the way, be loud, and a bitch - even if it went against my nature. IG: @rubyfordart

DISCO BABY 2023. 2024 Rawink Acrylic and oil on canvas, 24inches x 20 inches $750 (each) Each disco baby is inspired by my synesthesia ~ seeing colours and patterns from sounds. Each work is inspired by different forms of music. Disco baby 1 is inspired by indie pop music from 2023, the 2nd is inspired by female soul music and the 3rd is inspired by a song called ‘Heal Sistah’ by @aurora_solchld and @rinamusicc . I paint what I see when I close my eyes, for example some bass lines tend to appear as dark green staggering lines, or horns generally are orange/ golden and swirly. Some vocal tones are deep purples and others are a velvety red. I don’t see a colour or pattern for every single sound in a song, generally it’s quite specific. IG: @rawink.com.au

Am I My Dress or My Blood? 2024 Mayatu Nova, Oluwa.jpg, Stephanie Langford and Bulley Bulley. Photography. NFS ‘Am I my dress or my blood?’ explores the duality of womanhood-the expectation to remain poised and graceful while enduring immense personal pain. Draped in a white gown by Bulley Bulley, a universal symbol of purity and femininity, and juxtaposed with the rawness of being naked and covered in blood, this piece unravels the constant battle between external perfection and internal chaos. The blood is not just a symbol of pain but of life, resilience, and rebirth, nnecting deeply to the cycles women endure. The tension betwee sInerability and strength echoes the societal demand for women mask their struggles while appearing serene. This series was inspired by my own journey, navigating the weight of personal grief, trauma, and rage while striving to meet the world’s impossible expectations of grace. Through this work, I hope to spark conversations about the masks we wear, the truths we carry, and the unyielding strength found in embracing our raw, authentic selves. IG: @mayatunova , @oluwa.jpg , @slangmakeup , @bulleybulleylabel

Girly Phone // Bop Her! // The Manic Pixie Dream Girl Doll 2024 Milan Acrylic paint, watercolour, paint pen, clay, gloss varnish, paper and cardboard. 198 x 103 x 60 mm NFS Girly Phone similarly explores online harassment directed towards women by insecure men associated with toxic male subcultures like the manosphere and Incel communities. The work includes a clay replica of a cheap plastic toy flip phone adorned with butterflies and hearts that recall the imagery of girlhood. It features a self-portrait that conveys a sense of shock, complemented below by bubble writing stating the product’s name. Abusive, manipulative messages are depicted on the screen, heavily juxtaposing the girly imagery and the proposed purpose of the toy, which is to communicate with boys romantically. // 2024 Milan Acrylic paint, watercolour, paint pen, clay, embroidery thread, false eyelashes, paper, cardboard and plastic bag. 220 x 185 x 40 mm NFS Bop Her! is presented as a learning tool for young boys, teaching them that it is acceptable to exhibit power over women. The piece is a clay replication of the Bop It game; however, the elements are changed to create an anthropomorphic female figure. The objective is to control the objectified woman through touch, which examines the continuing trope of men unjustly feeling entitled to women’s bodies. While at first glance humorous, the toy highlights the reality of abhorrent socially acceptable behaviours that continue to objectify and victimise women. // 2024 Milan Clay, paper, watercolour, paint pen, acrylic paint, plastic acetate, paper, and rubber band on cardboard. 100 x 100mm NFS The Manic Pixie Dream Girl Doll is a mixed-media self-portrait that utilises the gender-based trope in media of the eccentric female love interest who catalyses the male protagonist’s self-discovery. Having been called this by male partners, I decided to miniaturise myself into a doll form, entrapping the figure in a small box to exemplify how these stereotypes belittle women and diminish their experiences. IG: @freakinfreakart

The Bride 2023 GERM Acrylic on MDF, 242 × 121cm NFS The Bride is my little sister. The Bride is a Banshee, she screams, yells, kicks and kills. She speaks with her chest, she demands to be heard. She takes no prisoners and knows her worth. She’s a conduit of rage in pursuit of liberation. She spits on your grave, she’s a pearl and the substance on a stage. She’s Carrie White, an atomic blonde, she’s Frida and Sarah Barefoot in a field, she plays ‘I’m That Girl’ by Beyonce. The Bride makes you roll your shoulders back and feel like you can walk alone at night. She’s a knife in your pocket and the keys in your fist. IG: @__germ___

Understanding Female Rage 2024 Film Probe Digital Media NFS Analysing the idea of ‘female rage’ can an endless battle because the representation is never one the same. Emotion in film has countless interpretations from rage, anger, irritation and frustration; rage can be a number of forms. I thought it would be fun to showcase the many different versions of ‘rage’ within film - I’d like to mention I in no way have included every performance but simply some of my favourites! Also, rage is subjective, emotion is subjective. These interpretations may not all read as rage to you but to me, I feel rage from each role listed here. Female rage can be internal, strong, messy, loud, quiet, emotional, physical... the list goes on. (Also once I finished this I thought Barbie (2023) was a good addition to the list... typical!) What’s the first role which comes to mind when you hear ‘female rage’? What character or actor do you think of which represents the idea of rage? IG: @filmprobe

You Can’t Pick And Choose // Black Swan 2024 Eye Fleur Stoneware Ceramic $200 I was always petrified of growing up. I cried on my 12th birthday and even more on my 13th. The fear of losing my youth. I still feel this way often, I mean what kind of girl doesn’t cry on her birthday? My dad asked me once (or maybe it was more than?), I guess I must’ve been around 13, if I was growing armpit hair yet… I told him no and he responded with “good” (I didn’t share the fact that I had been pulling out my armpit hair with my fingers with the fear of him seeing it). I sobbed and screamed at my mother the first time she tried to talk to me about periods when I was 11, because I was certain that wouldn’t happen to me… it did. I was ashamed and wouldn’t tell anyone so I’d use toilet paper instead of sanitary products… and when I finally did use sanity products, I’d hide the packaging and waste in my bag until I could bring it straight out to the wheely bin. I wouldn’t let my mum take me bra shopping, and when I finally did, I bought the most discreet, flattening, bras I could. I was terrified of my dad knowing that I wore bras, so I would hide them and wouldn’t wash them unless I was at my mums house. After hitting puberty I put on weight, this comes with puberty but I was always a very very thin child and teenager, until I suddenly wasn’t. I remember looking at a photo from a friend’s maybe 13th? birthday, and pointing out how skinny I looked… my dad told me I could go back to looking like that if I’d just go running with him… there was no physical way I could ever look like that again and it be healthy, I was so disproportionately skinny for a 5’10 woman. I had 3 of the exact same denim shorts and multiple variations of the same 2 t shirts that I wore religiously for multiple years in an attempt to hide the way my body was changing. The shape of this piece represents the ever changing female body, and uses the two plaited handles to display my constant quest to remain looking youthful or ‘spotless’. // Stoneware Ceramic Wall Hanging $125 The swan is an emblem of feminine beauty, innocence, and softness. IG: @eyefleur

Untitled 2024 Daphne Rat Acrylic on canvas NFS This piece represents my love for my tiddas, my friends, my country, and way that I see the beauty in those connections in everything I do and everywhere I go. I would ask that when you stand by my work think about everything and everyone you love. Ask yourself, what’s your mum’s favourite flower? Think about where you were when you fell in love with your best friend, think about what home means to you, how that nostalgia manifests in you now and how you honour those connections when you put your best self forward. IG: @ratagainstthemachine

Impossible Body 2023 Clo Love Salvaged fabric, corflute, wood and wire, 2m x 1.5m x 1.9m NFS Impossible Body is a large, interactive installation piece I made for @riot_collective ’s “Transient” exhibition last November, a dive into the themes of queer introspection and time. It is a recreation of the feeling one experiences during a late-night, naked stare into the bedroom mirror, something that we all do but that especially sucks if you feel like your body doesn’t match your brain. The piece examines my own experience surrounding gender dysphoria and body dysmorphia by letting the viewer step behind a wall, and inhabit a strange soft sculpture body that is absurd and silly and familiar to no one. Through their new eyes they can view their body in a full length mirror opposite, and with its hollow arms as gloves they can touch. The title of this piece, Impossible Body, is named so because this alien body does not exist, it cannot. But it also gives name to the intolerable distress of inhabiting a body that is not your own. For some, it is impossible. If you need someone to talk to, free LGBTIQ+ peer support is available from QLife, 3pm to midnight, every day. Phone (1800 184 527) or webchat at qlife.org.au. IG: @clo__love