A Female Future

With a few hours left of 2022, there’s time for my final post of the year. I created Spark & Frame with few ambitions: it was the unexpected fulfilment of a loose New Year’s Resolution to “create more”, combined with an inexhaustible love for historical & artistic study, despite having left the official confines of academia three years ago.

Given that Spark and Frame was started so early in the year, my resolution evolved to a more specific target of publishing five posts. With 5 hours left, and only 4 posts complete, I’ve stepped aside from a bustling New Year’s weekend celebration to lay down some thoughts.

There are three big milestones on my artistic journey this year that I wanted to share:

1. My discovery of “modern” art

Prior to 2022 I was firmly in the camp that modern art was simply not for me – beyond Impressionism, the works of abstract, surrealists, post-modernists and the like failed to engage me, and I would always pivot towards galleries with 18th century artists like Turner and my two great loves Vermeer and Rembrandt. But this year, I’ve found my attention gravitating towards movements I previously knew little about – the Tate Modern’s Surrealism Beyond Borders was a masterstroke in contextualising a global, incredibly political and radical movement – and it was one of the first I’ve seen to include several works by female artists. Even more surprisingly, when it comes to collecting my own art, I’ve become fascinated with abstract artists and oil & acrylic works – quite the transformation from a girl who thought she loved water colours, landscapes and portraits!

2. Madrid

After a botched attempt in 2020, I finally ticked Madrid off my bucket list. Having studied various paintings that are now housed in the city’s hallowed galleries, as well as studying Murillo’s pieces, it was a true joy to see them in real life. I’m working on a blog piece concerning a previously unstudied, and currently unfinished, letter to Robert Walpole about a handful of Murillo paintings he was exploring buying – and I’m looking forward to sharing with you early next year.

3. Becoming a collector

And finally, I had the joy of beginning my own art collection of original works this year. Having spotted her prints in the recently opened Battersea Power Station, I wasted no time in looking up Luana Asiata’s creative and colourful abstract works online. Within moments a new world of Instagram artists unlocked before my eyes. My review of the NPG’s Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition connected me to living artists and it was such a joy to connect with them and share their works further. I’m a little embarrassed that the idea hadn’t occurred to me previously – I can only blame it on years of studying History where your subjects do tend to be dead. Now though I’ve found a series of incredible female artists to follow and one day I hope support through collecting and not just writing. I can’t encourage you enough to check out Martha Holmes, Kate Domash, Lesley Dabson, Nicola Mosley and Katja Leibenath (check out my Instagram for a post of their works). As soon as I’m back from my weekend away, I’ll be picking up Luana’s piece Home from my local frame shop, and I look forward to writing future posts sat in front of it.

To end with a final teaser, I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into Katy Hessel’s trailblazing book The Story of Art Without Men. Taking a leaf out of her book I’ll be profiling some of the female artists I’m inspired by and I look forward to seeing how Spark and Frame evolves with contemporary artists, and historical research existing side by side.

All that remains to be said is a big thank you to my readers. Thank you being part of the first few months of Spark and Frame. Wishing you a very happy start to 2023.

1. Katie Leibenath - a piece I love in a private collection (sadly) in San Francisco entitled SMALL FIGURE #143,

2. Luana Asiata's piece Home that I have the joy to own

3. A snap from Martha Holmes' Mousehole collection in Morgans Falmouth gallery