By Callum Ludwig
An empowering exhibition has opened at the Warburton Waterwheel for the month of March.
‘Body of Empowerment’ will be on display in the gallery, coinciding with International Women’s Day on Friday 8 March.
Sponsored by Body of Wellbeing Ltd. (BOWL), the exhibition features new or existing artwork from Yarra Ranges-based women artists aged over 18.
Local mosaic artist Leonie Claire said when this exhibition was first mentioned to her it, resonated as she has battled with body image for many years and feels strongly about it.
“I believe that our body is a shell and it’s more important what’s on the inside: your heart and soul, being a kind, generous, supportive and uplifting person. Judging someone on how they look is so damaging not only to them but also the person doing the judging who is missing out on getting the whole picture,” she said.
“I’ve been enjoying mosaic for about 30 years and love the process of putting things together to create new works of art. For my mosaic piece I have used a full figure torso and she is a big, bold and beautiful Burlesque/show girl.”
The exhibition grew from a body empowerment program that Executive Director of BOWL Louise Wigg and yoga teacher and video artist Cat McKay developed a few years ago called My Body’s Story. Michele Osterhoudt who coordinates exhibitions at the Warburton Wheel and who is also a BOWL director proposed the idea of sponsoring an exhibition to bring together the works of women around the Yarra Valley and the Body of Empowerment exhibition was locked in for March.
Ms Wigg said they hope they have created a space where women can come together and celebrate everything they are in the world.
“Throughout March we will offer a range of workshops related to self-nurturing and creativity to provide a space that women, and all genders, can enjoy and walk away feeling nourished,” she said.
“Body of Wellbeing Limited, is a recently-formed Not for Profit that has evolved to fill a gap within our local community to lead work focusing on the development, implementation and evaluation of a strategic approach to prevention of eating disorders, body image distress and weight stigma.”
Lucy Pierce and Crystal Tan are two artists who will host workshops, with Ms Pierce offering an Embodied Clay workshop on Tuesday 12 March and Ms Tan offering a watercolours workshop on Friday 15 March.
“For me, all creative expression is a grappling with the body, with my body, with my sense of embodiment. To me the body is intrinsically beautiful, all bodies are. It is through the body we experience the beauty of life,” Ms Tan said.
“I usually paint flowers and sometimes landscapes. But painting myself, using myself as a reference, observing the shadows and curves and lines and textures in a non-judging way, was indeed quite a therapeutic and loving experience,” Ms Tan said.
Body of Empowerment runs from 10am-4pm every day in March at the Waterwheel Gallery in Warburton
Ms McKay created a mesmerising video called ‘how do I feel, what do I need,’ depicting three women taking time to drop in and listen to and nourish their bodies through self massage for the exhibition.
She will also be running a stretch and self-massage workshop on Sunday 17 March from 4pm to 6pm and said this practice has helped her through so many challenging times.
“I love to share this practice with my yoga students and hope to share it with more through this exhibition. I hope that we can all find a way to come home to our bodies and listen to her, honour her, and give her what she needs.”
