Award-winning painter Prudence Flint paints modern women going about their day. In one painting a woman is seen hard at work at the sewing machine; in another, a woman covers her face while taking a shower. There’s nothing grandiose about her subjects, which is what makes her pieces relatable if somewhat melancholic.
“Since I was very young I have been interested in images of women,” admitted Flint in an interview with The Harvard Advocate. “I loved the clothes and the fabrics and the atmospheres that were created, the sense of life and imagination… a female world celebrated. Fashion magazines are meant to reflect our desire and imagination. But it is a world that just feels so engendered to me now. Painting feels like making peace with my reality.”
Talking about her subjects, she says she imagines these women are focused and carried away in thought. “Facial expressions can really dominate a painting,” she says. “I prefer a more ambiguous reading so the painting itself has room to become the expression. I’m often not sure what it is I want the figure to be feeling. I need to surrender and find it within the painting. We are used to seeing people depicted smiling or scowling in advertisements where ambiguity isn’t going to sell anything.”
Based in Melbourne, Flint has held solo exhibitions in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, and Hobart and has exhibited in major state and regional galleries. You can also check out her work on her Instagram page.
