Artist Spotlight: Virginia Ward

Virginia Ward focuses upon her face in her multifaceted sculptural work as seen above.

Repurposing off cuts of wood used in the making of ukuleles, mandolins and guitars by luthier, Ward has created a highly conceptual and multifaceted self portrait that defines herself by what she is not. 

“I use the offcuts and discards from human industry, to create apparent patterns. I draw around the shapes then paint them in water colour, delving into the multi-layered geometry, exploring all the visual possibilities of language formation through illusion using space, shape, colour, and the significance of application and materials.”

Image: Virginia Ward I WILL ALWAYS BE WITH YOU. ON THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NO THING. NOT INSTRUMENTS) IWABWY. OTSON. NI. Self Portrait As A Not Instrument With Bow Tie 2018.

Artwork donated to the Cruthers Collection of Women’s Art by Sheila Foundation supporters.

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What’s it like for a young woman artist trying to make her way in the artworld of today? Bella Chidlow is a recent art school graduate interning with the SHEILA Foundation. Here

“The Australian slang term ‘sheila’, a derogatory term for a woman, is a relic of another, more sexist time. But, like other contested words, it has been reclaimed and reappr