Odd Roads to be Walking

Odd Roads to be Walking: 156 Women who shaped Australian Art
Paul Finucane and Catherine Stuart

www.oddroads.com.au

‘It was an odd road to be walking, this of painting. Out and out one went, farther and farther, until at last one seemed to be on a narrow plank, perfectly alone, over the sea.’ – Virginia Wolf, ‘To the Lighthouse’, 1927

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, women around the world began to free themselves from patriarchal domination, seeking to lift the veil on society’s views of a woman’s role to be that of wife, mother and carer. A notion that was robustly challenged by female artists whose creative practices and other professionalisms were shadowed by their male counterparts.

‘Odd Roads to be Walking’ profiles the work and lives of 156 women artists who worked in Australia and internationally during this time. Many began their artistic journey early in their teen years, such as Violet Teague (1872-1951) and Portia Geach (1873-1959), while others like Emily Kame Kngwarreye (c.1910-1996) and Queenie McKenzie (c.1915-1998) developed their practices later in life and were at the forefront of turning the spotlight on the creative output of female Indigenous artists.

Alongside the written works throughout this book is a vibrant collection of landscape, portrait and still life paintings. The individual and collective visions of this group of women artists were paramount in forming new opportunities and recognition for themselves and for contemporary female artists of today and in the future.

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