Opening Thurs 1 Aug, 6pm
Exhibition runs Fri 2 Aug – Sat 24 Aug

Prickly Woman emerges as a creature not quite of this time and place. They are caught between the stereotypes of the mundanely domestic and the decadent. They are a societal construct built in the rift between historical expectations of femininity and the local, modern-day woman.

This work is an exploration into the larger narrative of the realities of women’s health in all its layers – physical, spiritual, financial, isolation, community connection, ageing, caring, responsibility.

Purcell’s lived experiences and research gathered during her Rosamond McCulloch Paris Studio Residency 2018 (UTAS) are woven into Prickly Woman. Laura Purcell interweaves sculpture, puppetry and performance to share stories of entrapment, transformation and release, on women and the non-human, in digital and environmental spaces. Sculpture comes from her desire to build architecture for the body which becomes an extension of the body. The sculpture; puppet, object or costume, can provide multiple narrative structures within her performance and exhibition work.

The sculpture is conceptually and aesthetically influenced by its surrounding environment. It is always intended to live in a performance and site of significance.

Prickly Woman is exhibited in MAC’s Avago window gallery, visible from Albert Road.

Image: Laura Purcell, Prickly Woman study – Map, 2019, digital illustration