A series of podcasts with women artists who are mid-career or established is the basis for a new exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ballarat.
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A World of One's Own refers to the classic feminist essay A Room of One's Own by Virginia Woolf, which articulates the need for women writers to be given space - literally, and in the mind - in order to be able to work.
Tai Snaith, a practising artist in her own right, recorded two series of podcasts with female, non-binary and trans artists discussing their approaches to work and the difficulties faced by artists in creating art.
An interview with Helen Maudsley, the visual artist who has been working for over seven decades creating visually cryptic 'essays' of lines, numbers, shapes, letters, geometry and symbols tracing her everyday experiences and subjective perceptions gave her the impetus both to create works of her own and to record more.
"For me, speaking to her made her work so much richer and more meaningful; and also her hardships as a woman... I loved responding to the conversation we had and thought about it a lot," Ms Snaith says.
"I thought, 'Wouldn't it be great to approach all of those women who are still alive, that older generation who I respect and admire, and who have been through some really hard times, and invite them for a chat?'"
The idea became two series of podcasts, initially recorded at Snaith's home. Some of the artists included were Patricia Piccinini, Maree Clarke and Lou Hubbard; this became an Australia Council-funded project the second time around, focusing on younger artists, including non-binary artists and trans women.
She responded with work of her own to these interviews, which is featured in the gallery's exhibition.
"The works are very intuitive; they come from my studio process," Ms Snaith says.
"But during the last year I've been conducting these conversations and inevitably that feeds into your practice. I've allowed that to permeate my ideas, and I didn't restrict myself to one medium."
Visitors will be able to listen to a selection of the podcast interviews while sitting in an original Expo Mark II sound chair produced by Melbourne furniture designer Grant Featherston in 1967.
The AGB will host an exhibition floor talk on Saturday, June 15 at 3 pm.