Mary Mary quite contrary, How does your garden grow? Print

An exploratory expressionist work borne of several prompts, including reading about notions of ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine’ styles of painting, this piece starts to question learned gender performance (and whether I can overcome it) in my own work. The traditional English nursery rhyme ‘Mary Mary Quite Contrary…’ came quickly to mind when I started to think about early influences that might have shaped my understanding of gender roles. There are various theories about the meaning, but my interpretation is that many are critical of Mary, or critical of the achievements or failings of a woman in power, while I think I remember my childhood understanding being that one of the expected roles of women is the cultivation of ‘prettiness’. I tried to respond directly on the canvas to these thoughts about my own painting style. Trying to let go of any attempt at ‘prettiness’ and resolution, and trying to fully accept changing my mind. The figure is in a garden space, and while in a relaxed position, doesn’t quite fit comfortably. The cowslips (a possible variation of the last line) show flowers positioned like the symbol used to indicate male and female, asking if actually we all exhibit a range of behaviours that might be variously moderated by societal construction of gender performances.