Angela Stewart – Arcimboldo's Flora 1566, 2004, oil on Cibachrome print, 127cm x 105cm. Donated by the artist in 2023 to support Murdoch University Art Collection’s 50th anniversary artwork donation campaign.

“Men act and women appear.”

John Berger, an art critic and writer, uttered these words in his 1972 television series, Ways of Seeing. Berger was exploring the art historical traditions of women in art, specifically how women had, for centuries, appeared in art. When I first encountered Angela Stewart’s Arcimboldo's Flora 1566, I recalled Berger’s words; “Men act and women appear.” Only in this case, it was as a point of departure: Stewart both acts and appears in her self-portrait.

Arcimboldo's Flora 1566 reflects Stewart’s long fascination with the history and Western traditions of portraiture. My background is in the history of art, and so I was drawn to the historical influences and motifs she references. Since the early Renaissance, women were frequent subjects in art, but they were seldom the creators of it. I was struck by Stewart’s positioning herself firmly within the legacy of other female artists who have dared to depict themselves in art, including Sofonisba Anguissola, Artemisia Gentileschi and Judith Leyster. For a female artist, the very act of putting oneself on the canvas is an act of reclamation of self, identity and womanhood. What's more, Stewart has adorned, and perhaps even armoured herself with an abundance of flowers, bursting out in kaleidoscopic shades of pink, red, yellow and orange.  It is not just a reclamation of womanhood, but a celebration of femininity. Through her work, her voice punctures the facade of a profession that has historically looked upon women as muses, rather than members.

Reflecting on Murdoch’s 50-year anniversary, Stewart’s work embodies the spirit of Murdoch’s history. Both as its foundational mission, and in the five decades since, Murdoch has been a place that has amplified the voices of those who might have otherwise gone unheard; including students who are mature age, from regional and remote locations, are neurodiverse or differently abled, migrants, first-in-family and Indigenous Australians. Murdoch carries a legacy of equipping its graduates—through education—with the power and tools to make their voices heard and assert their identity in the world. For me this is a critical point: Murdoch doesn't simply give voices to those without them. It gives people the power and ability to reclaim those voices themselves.

This is what I see when I look at Stewart’s work. This is not a woman being admired and painted by a man. This is a woman who has made the choice to paint not simply herself, but also to paint herself painting. She has painted herself in action.

Stewart has boldly cried out…women act, and women appear.

About Dr Elizabeth Burns-Dans

Elizabeth took up her first teaching position at Murdoch in 2023, after completing an MPhil and PhD the University of Notre Dame Fremantle. She is a lecturer of History in the School of HASS and teaches on a range of subjects, including the Romans, Vikings, Tudors, and the history of art as a form of protest and activism. Her research interest is in how we might use art to understand the lived experience of artists.