Lot's Wife

The fifteen stories chosen by Marcelle Hanselaar as the catalyst for her new series have their origin in the Judaeo-Christian biblical tradition, but she does not come to them from a faith background. Rather, these tales about powerful women caught her imagination over a period of decades, through their manifold cultural and art historical representations. What she liked about them was the no-nonsense, I-will-do-it-my-way attitude of the women. As the artist puts it, “These ancient imaginary narratives give us a much-needed energising subversiveness” in a world where deep-seated patriarchal attitudes are far from dead.
Hanselaar has called the protagonists of her series ‘rebels’ and she has used the word ‘feisty’ to describe them. It truly sums up this assortment of women. Look at each etching and then decide which of the various meanings of ‘feisty’ applies: lively, determined, courageous, spirited, spunky, plucky, strong-willed, or adamant. All these women are rebels against a male-dominated order of things, but Hanselaar is not thereby arguing they are all ‘good’ heroines, nor that they are always (although frequently) just and vindicable as victims-turned-avengers. Bold, assertive, or even outright aggressive, within the artist’s vivid portrayals they are all, however, brazenly “on top”: commanding their own sexuality, agency, position, and plot. Through a forceful blend of expressive characterisation, dark humour, and idiosyncratic style that draws inspiration from such print masters and storytellers as Francisco Goya and Paula Rego, Hanselaar presents us with a fresh take on these age-old myths that both inscribes the engrained vilification and demonisation of women in Western culture, and defiantly reclaims their unruly power. The artist adds her own ideas as an interpreter rather than as an illustrator of the biblical scenes in order to bring these stories to life for a 21st century audience.

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In collaboration with the Jerusalem Biennale