Woman Oppressed

Woman oppressed is torso-less, as a protest against the headless, limbless female torsos whose mutilated bodies have been part of our sculpture culture for centuries. In my 'cinderebel' sculptures, I reverse the clichés associated with the female physique: Girl skipping and Woman oppressed have enormous feet and large hands. They struggle to release themselves from the stone with outward movements, looking upward positively, in contrast to the way females are usually depicted in positions of submission with head down and limbs tucked in (if they are lucky enough to be given limbs). The squat position of the figure, about to spring up, expresses the power of potential movement and energy.

- Susan Dorothea White