Tent Woman
Danielle O'Brien
- Sitter: Danielle O'Brien
- Medium: Oil on Board
- Dimensions: 40cm x 50cm
- Representation: This artist represents themselves
About the artwork
This artwork is a self-portrait “…channelling the unspeakable frustrations and ambivalence of motherhood”. Danielle O’Brien uses dramatic imagery to draw attention to the tensions and anxiety of balancing the tasks of parenting in the modern world.
The screaming woman, with her windswept hair, holds a placenta with the umbilical cord acting as a lasoo to catch her children. Her body morphs into an empty tent tethered to the ground.
Danielle O’Brien’s imaginative works often feature women with a sometimes comic nod to their relationships with men and children.
“With both humour and rage, I represent my body as an abandoned shelter, flapping in a storm. It is tethered to the earth and screaming into the void, wielding an umbilical cord and placenta like a lasso to retrieve the brood. It’s the balancing act of protection and control that comes with raising teenagers.”
About the artist
Danielle O’Brien is a Brisbane based artist and photographer. She has a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the University of Southern Queensland and has worked as curator and co-director of KILN Gallery. She has participated in many solo and group exhibitions over the past two decades and her work is in the collection of Wendy Whiteley and the University of Southern Queensland. Danielle works from her home studio in The Gap and teaches art and photography to adults and young people.
