_(1).jpg&q=80&w=1120&c=0&s=1 "artist prudence flint chats about dogs, the female gaze and ngv's newest exhibition")
artist prudence flint chats about dogs, the female gaze and ngv's newest exhibition
"Cats and Dogs" will be featured at the NGV from November 1st 2024 to July 20th 2025.
Whenever we cast our peepers on Prudence Flint's paintings, we can't help but become a wee bit introspective. Her intimate portraits of female figures lying on beds, staring at their reflections or idly spending time in and around their abodes have us stuck thinking: what are these ladies thinking about?
We managed to grab a quick chinwag with Prudence to chat about her art, as well as her inclusion in NGV's new exhibition, Cats and Dogs.
When was your earliest experience with creating art? I've always been interested in art and writing. I had three older brothers, so my femaleness has been an intense interest for me. When I needed nice clothes, I learnt to make them for myself, because my dad, at that stage, didn't have a lot of money.
I went to design school and got a degree in design. I wanted to work at a fashion magazine, but I soon realised I was more interested in painting and exploring my own ideas. It was a long process that started early on.
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Is there a running theme to the work you create, or do you just make whatever comes to mind? I try to let it flow. I never say, "Oh, this is going to be the theme". I let each painting lead to the next. I often repeat themes. There is a lot of repetition in my work – I've done 14 bathroom paintings, because every one of them has a different atmosphere and a different composition.
How would you compare the art you made when you first started to today? Well, when I first started painting, I remember doing my first woman lying on a bed in second year of art college and thinking, "This makes sense." Even though it was only a painting of a woman in a room, it felt like a whole new parallel universe.
When I first started painting, I had some problems getting my flow. Some people are super-strict with their process. I'm quite free form with paint, in that I need to find my own process and timing, but I think I've made that work for me. It took a long time to create these characters; for them to have a life of their own.
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What does the ‘female gaze’ mean to you? Well, the 'male gaze' is something that we don't even have to think about – it just exists all around us. We take it for granted. I'm a voyeur and I'm interested in female perversity. Men enjoy privilege when it comes to power in this world and women have to be strategic. I love to paint ways women find ways to do that.
My paintings try to hold space for the complexities of being female, but I don't even know how to approach the concept of a 'female gaze'. I've always felt like being a woman is like being a voyeur, since we watch the world around us. We are required to be more connected to our bodies and to other women. I think it's men who have this weird relation to the female body since they have to separate from the mother's body in a way women don’t. Often, when I look at paintings by men of women, they're strange to me.
What excites you about Melbourne/Naarm's art scene? We have a rich complex art scene in Melbourne. We are privileged people here, in that we have the space to do our work and earn our living. Most of my peers have all been able to do their work and finance a studio. I've always had to keep my life pretty ship shape and I’ve had to be super-savvy with money, but it's doable. I do notice sport gets a lot of support in Australia.
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Talk to us a bit about NGV’s Cats and Dogs and your involvement in the new exhibition. Seven paintings were included in the Triennial in 2024. The painting "Hunting and Fishing" had a dog on the bed. It's my brother's dog Slim. I often mind him. He's a whippet and he's a really particular, highly sensitive dog.
Are you more of a cat person or a dog person? Gosh, I don't know. I think I'm more a dog person. Even though I've had both – I love cats too! How can you compare?
What do you hope viewers get out of this new exhibition? I hope they recognise something of themselves. I suppose that's all I can hope for: that people look at the work and recognise something of their own.
You can see more of Prudence Flint's artwork by popping by her website, here. Cats and Dogs will be held at the NGV from November 1st, 2024 to July 20th, 2025.