Results from my  Stoddart Cottage Gallery residency 2025 and exhibition 2026.

My artistic practice is grounded in history and the retelling of women’s stories. She Doesn’t Fit the Frame is inspired by two colonial women: my ancestor Barbara Putland, who arrived in Akaroa in 1840, and local artist Margaret Stoddart. The sea was a defining force in both Barbara and Margaret’s lives, shaping their survival, resilience, and sense of place. This elemental connection, along with the rich landscape of Diamond Harbour, has served as a foundation for my exhibition.

Margaret forged a celebrated,  artistic life at a time when women had few opportunities, while Barbara’s long, difficult life, marked by survival at sea, famine, conflict, and immense personal loss. Her story survives only in fragments, like many women of the past. Those who were colonials and those who had it imposed upon them. Defining for every woman what it means to be one. 

In response, I have created miniature works within the genres once deemed suitable for women, portraiture, landscape, and floral painting, then disrupted them with expressive marks. This act of “sabotage” releases my fictional figures from colonial constraints and allows a ghostly impression to emerge, honouring the legacy of women whose stories remain largely unseen.