Women of the Forest
2018 - 2022
WOMEN OF THE FOREST STATEMENT: JAMES WHITINGTON
On a visit to Tasmania, I was invited to a logger's keg drinking party in a timber town. Inside the house was a painting of a naked woman sitting in a tree. It expressed the idea that by cutting the tree down, the woman would be conquered. It was a logger's inspiration.
The series of paintings “Women of the Forest” is my response to this experience. I have made an attempt to integrate the female form with the trees, their limbs juxtaposed and aligned with the shape of the tree’s limbs - belonging to the tree.
The titles of some of the works evoke the ancient goddess myths of pre-industrial Europe. Goddesses such as Cybele, Rhea and Demeter were seen as protectors of nature and forest.
Any reference to the sacredness of forest was deposed by industrialisation.
Behind this work is a biocentric view that values forest and regrets the demise of its sacred alignment to the female figure.
 First Meeting145 x 113cm Acrylic on canvas |  Second Meeting145 x 113cm Acrylic on canvas |  Third Meeting145 x 113cm Acrylic on canvas |
|---|---|---|
 Fifth Meeting145 x 113cm Acrylic on canvas |  Fourth Meeting113 x 145cm Acrylic on canvas |  Sixth Meeting145 x 113cm Acrylic on canvas |
 Dancing150 x 120cm Acrylic on canvas 2020 $8000 |  Women of the Forest150 x 120cm Oil on canvas 2019 $12,000 |  Dance150 x 120cm Acrylic on canvas 2020 $10,000 |
 Vertigo One150 x 108cm Acrylic on canvas |  Sabbat195 x 165cm Acrylic on canvas 2020 $15,000 |  Vertigo Two150 x 108cm Acrylic on canvas |
 Sleep195 x 165cm Acrylic on canvas 2019 $15,000 |  Mother165 x 165cm Acrylic on canvas 2020 $12,000 |  Saved165 x 165cm Acrylic on canvas 2021 $12,000 |
 Nature Study165 x 165cm Acrylic on canvas 2019 $14,000 |  The Blue Rose120 x 165cm Oil on canvas 2019 $7000 |  Cybele in Storm165 x 165cm Acrylic on canvas 2019 $10,000 |
 Edge of the Forest160 x 160cm Acrylic on canvas 2019 $10,000 |  Jacee Green165 x 165cm Acrylic on canvas 2020 $12,000 |  Attis and Cybele122 x 180cm Oil on canvas 2018 $9500 |
 Sunlight on the Angopheras165 x 195cm Acrylic on canvas 2019 $14,000 |