Sophia Hewson aims to speak about the body in a manner ‘alternative to patriarchal ideology’. Her self-portrait, a performative pash with singer-songwriter Missy Higgins, depicts a star and her fan.
Award-winning musician Missy Higgins agreed to help artist Sophia Hewson challenge the orthodox structures of portraiture, making her the ideal collaborator for this work. Hewson and Higgins are not in a relationship: ‘She’s engaged and I’m straight’, confirmed Hewson. Rather, the painting challenges the objectification of the female body in art, subverting a medium historically dominated by the male gaze – the portrayal of women through the eyes of men – emphasising the power of the female gaze in its stead. (Hewson refers to ‘post-feminist self-objectification’ in characterising the work.) The artist and Higgins are in complete control of their representation, offering the viewer a statement that is, overtly, wholly from the female perspective.
