"I felt I had to put these faces down in my paintings; to remember and pay my respects to these young women who were so brave and put their life at risk in a war not of their choosing. This was the first half of the 20th century and some of these women were Asian, Indigenous Australian, Indigenous Canadian and West Indian. They faced biases not just of gender but also of colour, religion, and ethnicity."
We are delighted to announce our upcoming exhibition by Angeli Sowani. Together, is Angeli’s fourth solo-exhibition at the gallery which runs from Thursday, 15th September till Friday, 30th September 2022.
For this exhibition Angeli extensively researched and has painted portraits of near-forgotten women and men from the Commonwealth countries, who served in various roles during the First and Second World Wars.
“The material I chose to work with and the method I have used were driven by what I noticed in my research. Race, Colour, Gender and Religion all seem designed to put people in boxes. So, I decided to paint the portraits on regimented 20cm x 20cm boxes…”
Angeli’s 2019 exhibition Medals & Bullets told the story of the Indian soldiers who fought and often died in foreign lands far from home. She included letters sent home to their families in India, often dictated to another person as most of them could not write. The raw feelings and description of war in their own words are truly moving. Together is a continuation of that story…