Naturally Beautiful - Katherine Griffiths
HUW DAVIES GALLERY 8 December 2011 to 29 January 2012
Images: Katherine Griffiths, Pip and Pip #2
PhotoAccess offers residency opportunities to a number of artists each year. An aim of the residency program is to assist emerging artists to develop their practice and present work to a wider audience.
Support for artists in residence includes PhotoAccess membership, use of facilities and equipment, access to courses and workshops, help with grants applications, mentoring and advice, technical and creative support and, in some cases, exhibition opportunities.
PhotoAccess is a strong supporter of the ANU School of Art’s Emerging Artists Support Scheme (EASS): two of our residencies each year are awarded to School of Art final year graduates. Katherine Griffiths and Natalie Azzopardi are our residents from the 2010 graduating year. Support from the ACT component of the Visual Arts and Craft Strategy allows us to help emerging artists show their work as part of the HUW DAVIES GALLERY exhibitions program. For many this is their first solo exhibition, helping build a bridge between their student and future lives as contemporary visual artists.
Katherine Griffiths had a very busy year in 2011, with two residencies, two solo exhibitions and work in five group shows. Naturally Beautiful' is her first solo exhibition in a public art gallery and a good finish to the year.
The idea for the exhibition was first discussed with us early in 2011. It was unclear then how she might successfully and without sensation tell a story of the societal pressures on girls, as she says:
'… aged between 12 and 13, an age where [they] begin to shape their identity through physical appearance and body image. At this age, they are vulnerable to the various constructed ideals of beauty that are projected by the media and general pop culture'.
That Griffiths has done so effectively and with such subtlety and sensitivity is a tribute to her conceptual and technical skills. Her wall images reference the apparent need young girls have to project a more alluring and grown up image, an image that can lead to danger. The accompanying short film, Dance with me, is not quite so subtle as it points to the sexualisation of girls through the influence of pop culture and social media.
PhotoAccess is proud to present Katherine Griffiths’ 'Naturally Beautiful', including her short film 'Dance with me', to visitors to the HUW DAVIES GALLERY.
David Chalker
