A new exhibit in Invercargill is inviting the public to immerse themselves and be challenged through the relationships between feminist figurative works and their home.
The exhibition "Configure: Home", at He Waka Tuia, gathered larger-than-life sculptures, embroidery and art pieces portraying woman of all shapes and sizes from artists Kiri Mitchell, Sarah Baird, Michele Beevors, Kylie Norton, Tamara Nicholson, Maggie Covell and former Invercargill woman Anna Muirhead.
He Waka Tuia public programme Katie Green was excited with the feedback they were already getting.
"It’s so eye-catching when you come in ... and it really challenges the way that you look at women. So you see women of all shapes and sizes in this exhibition and we look at women in very realistic ways, rather than just the kind of women that we see in media a lot — you know, slim, conventionally attractive young women.
"This looks at women as they exist in the home, but also how they exist in real life."
He Waka Tuia art curator Bridget Duncan said the original inspiration was an exhibit in the United States in the 1970s called "Womanhouse".
At the time, there was no place for female artists to exhibit in major galleries, so a collective of women created an installation in a house to showcase that art could be found everywhere, she said.
"It’s embroidery, it’s sewing clothes, it’s cooking, it’s cleaning — all of those things that are domestic things are not considered art by society. But it can be — it can be elevated to high art.
"I think for Invercargill, this can really challenge some people, this exhibition, because when people come in and they see different things, different fabrics — they quite often are challenged by the fact that it’s a collective of females."
"Configure: Home" will be on show until mid-September, with many events and workshops scheduled along with the exhibit.
