Victoria Rance
Space for a Woman,
2007,
silicone bronze and steel,
172cm high
How long have you had a studio at APT?
I have had a studio at APT since 1996.
Which female artists inspired you growing up?
My mother was a feminist and a journalist and sometimes wrote about women artists, so I knew about Berthe Morisot and Mary Cassatt, Gwen John, and Barbara Hepworth (who sadly refused to be interviewed). She also wrote about Beatrix Potter whose house we visited, and also Artemisia Gentileschi, so I was exposed to their stories and saw no reason why I couldn’t become an artist.
What is the most important piece of advice you have been given.
I say to myself and to others at any opportunity “you can do what the fuck you want”. I think that’s especially important advice for women artists.
Why did you choose this piece of work today?
This was the first of a series of interactive sculptures exploring how psychic
and physical space is perceived and inhabited. It was made in response to an exhibition at APT Gallery about mutiny on The Bounty, specifically in relation to slavery. I wanted to draw attention to how the mutineers captured women from Tahiti in 1789 and took them to the Pitcairn Islands, where the culture of subjecting young women to abuse continued well into the twenty first century.
See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_Pitcairn_Islands_sexual_assault_trial
I also made a work on paper specifically referencing this trial and the behaviour of the mutineers.