Sandra O'Dea

About the artist: Born Melbourne, Australia in 1956

I am interested in looking back through history and creating a concurrence of myths and ideologies that have shaped our thoughts and world; placing them in a contemporary context and re evaluating the language of these concerns and value systems.
I have created sculptural life size female forms made from tissue paper and pressed white plastic these take the form of angels or virginal personae. I have placed 10 of these into a corner to take the shape of a chorus line of dancers or neo classical angels that appear to have lost their restraint and path.
From this comes a body of work that deals with the issues of the constructed feminine, in a poetic neo classic presentation of prints and sculptural forms. Forms that have evolved into embalmed fragments of the female shell. I use the gutted female torso as a sign to draw my inspiration for these sculptures.
Following my recent trip to Europe I have fashioned this latest body of work which explores the materials of lace and Danish white cement. I have used mannequins as models to create female shells from these materials.
I am interested in exploring the over emphasised male sexualised perspective of femininity in a modern contemporary culture. I am concerned with the lack of feminine recognition; this was the driving force behind the conception of these works.
The fact that all the primary angels in history have been supposedly androgynous yet they have male names is by no means coincidental in the balance of sexual power within our society.
I have used a change in scale and genres to generate the body of work for this show. It should provide a thought provoking feminine view of the current state of the world at large. My work is about unmasking these values and beliefs to reconstruct the way in which we see ourselves as women in a modern progressive world.
There is an element of performance and fashion contained within these work’s: at the opening I will wear a Victorian styled bodice made of pressed plastic; this is complementary to the work in the show and in juxtaposition for my argument for femininity in contemporary times. I use the idea that women design their costumes for men and liberate this with the introduction of playgirl feminine toys.
Education: 2001.2004Monash Caulfield Masters Of Art by Research
2001-2002 Grad Dip Ed Melbourne University.
1997- 1999 VCA B.A. Fine Arts
1995.1996Chisholm Peninsula College of Tafe
Dip. Visual Arts
Exhibitions: Solo Shows
2003 March BHG Kyneton Vic “Wear no Angels”
May Oakhill Gallery Mornington Vic
2002 March Axiom West Melbourne Vic “Shadow Works”
2001 April Bleak House Malmsbury Vic “Installation”
June Axiom West Melbourne Vic “Knetwork”
July Monash Caulfield University Vic
2000 June BHG Kyneton Vic “Art of Tension”
1998 July Yarra Sculpture Gallery Vic
1996 Oct Ross Smith Gallery Vic
Group Shows
2003 Jan Salvage Australia Oakhill Gallery
Feb Linden Postcard Show
March "Outfit" Dante's Gertrude St Fitzroy
April 'Wear No Angels' Fashion Week @ BHG
May The Empty Dress Oak Hill
'The Art of Birthing' Glen Eira
2002 Jan Mornington Regional Gallery Entice ' Beneath the Veil'
March Axiom Solo Show 'SHADOW WORK'
May Bleak House Sculpture Art Prize Show
2002 Nov Installation Oak Hill Gallery Mornington Art Link George Paton Gallery Melb Uni
Dec Materialize Frankston Cultural Centre Cube 37
BHG Kyneton ' FacecaF' 3rd Xmas
Goya Gallery Southbank
2001 March 'Bleak House' Installation
April Artist in Residence Patterson River Secondary College
June Axiom solo show ' Knetwork ' Public Art Display Monash Caulfield
July ' Bleak House ' Installation ' Bed '
Sept Manyung Group Show
October Hutchins School Tasmania Art Prize Finalist Exhibition
Works on Paper ' Paperdoll'
November Bleak House Sculpture park Opening
November Moreland Sculpture Prize Finalist Show
Dec Band Hall Gallery Kyneton Xmas ' Dog Show'
2000 June Band Hall Gallery Kyneton Solo Show 'Single White Female '
July Manyung 'Nudes Show'
August Manyung Gallery Mt Eliza Vic
September Manyung Gallery Mt Eliza Vic
October McClelland Gallery Langwarrin Vic
Roar Studios Final Show In the name of the Dog
Manyung Gallery Mt Eliza Vic
1999 May VCA ' Transitional Objects from Childhood '
July Manyung ' Grand Opening Show '
August Geelong Regional Gallery ' Thaw'
VCA 3rd yrs final show
VCA Derrida Exhibition ' Book"
September VCA ' Proud'
October Yarra Sculpture Space ' Seamless '
Castlemaine ' Mamunya Installation ' In memory of trees'
November 13th Annual Sculpture Show Henley Park Kangaroo Grounds
VCA Final Year Show on Campus Southbank VIC
Band Hall Gallery Kyneton ' One Foot Square Show '
1998 March VCA ' Small Things '
May VCA ' Intimate spaces '
Yarra Sculpture Space ' Fragmented Reality
1997 March VCA Group Show on Campus
August Sculptors Association Annual Show Melb Vic
September Flinders Art show
November VCA Sculpture Dept First Year Group Show
1996 March Lyall Burton ' Shamocracy' 9x5 ' Save Albert Park'
Peninsula College Tafe Women’s Day Exhibition
June Flinders Art Show
July Peninsula Tafe Group Show on Campus
August George Paton Gallery Melbourne University
November McClelland Gallery
Langwarrin Graduation Show
1995 Jan / Feb Oceanside Gallery Mornington
May Frankston Cultural Centre Grand opening Show!
October Rossmith Gallery 1st years Show
November ' Mixed Masters of Conscious Error' Chisholm Institute of Tafe
1994 October Penbank Art Show
Nov/ Dec Secret Garden Display Mornington

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