Cougar

Cougar comprises a series of paintings of older/menopausal women in relaxed poses on beaches, by pools etc. The ‘Cougar’ paintings seek to reclaim the populist definition of a ‘cougar’ to have a positive spin – self contained/confident/defining.

I have developed a schematic visual language to describe older women’s body markings: cellulite, stretch marks, age spots, thread veins etc, radically altering the idea of the female muse.

There are approximately 20 paintings in the series, with seven shown in the exhibition 'Cougar'. The paintings are painted on boards with sizes ranging 40 - 80 x 50 x 130cm. They are painted in a somewhat fluid graphic style. Titling is used to simply describe a place or activity related to a woman’s name; all the names are non-Western standard to invoke a sense that this narrative could be sited anywhere.

The paintings function specifically as a response to a still popular form of painting, the female ‘muse’. In the field, painting resonates with its relationship to a patriarchal context. The 'Cougar' paintings offer women a positive and safe space to identify.

These themes are a continuation of the themes drawn out in earlier work such as the 'Romance Posters', and 'I Choose Painting' (see Akerman Daly, artist in residence, 2017) and exhibitions and installations such as 'Évasion', 'C21st ART-WORKER'.