Natasha Walsh
Damsel in distress, 2023-24
oil on copper
15 x 15 cm (each) / 31 x 31 x 3.5 cm (framed)
Sitter: Gracie Otto
Reference: Roy Lichtenstein, I Can See the Whole Room...and There's Nobody in It! (1961), Tension (1964), M-Maybe (1965).
Lichenstein’s reference: Tony Abruzzo, ‘TROOPER!…I CAN SEE THE WHOLE ROOM!….AND THERE’S NOBODY IN IT!’, Scene of tension between a man and a woman, ‘M-MAYBE HE BECAME ILL — AND COULDN’T LEAVE THE STUDIO! I’LL GO SEE!’ (1950-60).
Included in The National 4: Australian Art Now
Sitter: Gracie Otto
Reference: Roy Lichtenstein, I Can See the Whole Room...and There's Nobody in It! (1961), Tension (1964), M-Maybe (1965).
Lichenstein’s reference: Tony Abruzzo, ‘TROOPER!…I CAN SEE THE WHOLE ROOM!….AND THERE’S NOBODY IN IT!’, Scene of tension between a man and a woman, ‘M-MAYBE HE BECAME ILL — AND COULDN’T LEAVE THE STUDIO! I’LL GO SEE!’ (1950-60).
Included in The National 4: Australian Art Now
Further images
When Gracie visited my intervention at the Brett Whiteley studio for the National 4 she seemed immediately drawn to the bold works of American artists Tom Wesselmann and Roy Lichtenstein....
When Gracie visited my intervention at the Brett Whiteley studio for the National 4 she seemed immediately drawn to the bold works of American artists Tom Wesselmann and Roy Lichtenstein. So after some back and forth, we settled on the idea of creating a storyboard across three paintings, that references storyboards in film and her medium while also playing with the idea of Liechtenstein comic source material.
Lichtenstein copied the work of comic artists like Tony Abruzzo with in some instances very little changes, and painted them as a single frame on an immense scale, selling them for large sums. So I suggested we bring them back down to the scale of a storyboard or comic and create a basic narrative across three frames. Lichtenstein, like the comics he drew from, revolved around Damsels in Distress and blond Marilyn Monroe Archetypes whose entire world revolved around a current male love interest, likely called Brad. I suggested we subvert this narrative and talk about her lived experience as a director working with people who perhaps have an older view and implicit bias towards a woman in a position of power. Gracie the new blonde archetype doesn't need validation from Brad. She is a director behind the camera looking down the lens, while being glamorous and windswept, hair blowing on the breeze to accentuate her high cheekbones. I combed through Lichtenstein's work and the original comic to find three that could be reworked to create a narrative that mirrored Gracies’ experiences while keeping the slightly disjointed drama of the original comics.
The text bubbles, colour bleeding around black gestural lines and dots reference the printing techniques of the original comics and Lichtenstein's work.
The first frame originally read: 'Trouper!... I can see the whole room!.... and There's Nobody in It!' which was changed to 'Cooper!... I can see the whole frame!.... and There's Nobody in It!'
The second frame was simply titled Tension. We added a speech bubble from out of frame, presumably Cooper, preaching 'Alright alright, just calm down'.
The final frame, which originally had a private thought bubble 'M-Maybe he became ill -- And Couldn't leave the studio' now reads as 'Maybe he became transfixed by his massive ego -- and couldn't hear me the first time' as she sweeps her hair over her shoulder.
Lichtenstein copied the work of comic artists like Tony Abruzzo with in some instances very little changes, and painted them as a single frame on an immense scale, selling them for large sums. So I suggested we bring them back down to the scale of a storyboard or comic and create a basic narrative across three frames. Lichtenstein, like the comics he drew from, revolved around Damsels in Distress and blond Marilyn Monroe Archetypes whose entire world revolved around a current male love interest, likely called Brad. I suggested we subvert this narrative and talk about her lived experience as a director working with people who perhaps have an older view and implicit bias towards a woman in a position of power. Gracie the new blonde archetype doesn't need validation from Brad. She is a director behind the camera looking down the lens, while being glamorous and windswept, hair blowing on the breeze to accentuate her high cheekbones. I combed through Lichtenstein's work and the original comic to find three that could be reworked to create a narrative that mirrored Gracies’ experiences while keeping the slightly disjointed drama of the original comics.
The text bubbles, colour bleeding around black gestural lines and dots reference the printing techniques of the original comics and Lichtenstein's work.
The first frame originally read: 'Trouper!... I can see the whole room!.... and There's Nobody in It!' which was changed to 'Cooper!... I can see the whole frame!.... and There's Nobody in It!'
The second frame was simply titled Tension. We added a speech bubble from out of frame, presumably Cooper, preaching 'Alright alright, just calm down'.
The final frame, which originally had a private thought bubble 'M-Maybe he became ill -- And Couldn't leave the studio' now reads as 'Maybe he became transfixed by his massive ego -- and couldn't hear me the first time' as she sweeps her hair over her shoulder.
