Exhibitions
Somebody’s Daughter Theatre runs weekly art classes in two prisons, and a post release program and literally hundreds of women have attended the classes. The majority of the women explore art as a creative sanctuary whilst in prison, and common themes include connection with nature and the female psyche, cultural identity, challenges of incarceration and longing for family. Many have little or no experience in making art and, once they overcome initial self doubt, discover a deep sense of satisfaction and achievement.
The arts make for an equal meeting ground, and therein lies the strength of Somebody's Daughter Theatre, by celebrating the creative impulse without pathologising or judging. What is discovered is the journey of all artists. The heart and soul journeys and arrivals at places that can only be navigated by heart and soul. It's all about understanding what it is to be human, and those points of connectedness that surpasses race, creed, money, power ... . this is a celebration of art.
It's difficult to comprehend the importance of the freedom that creativity can give to lives that are trapped. If you are always unequal, unheard, spoken for, spoken about, then the arts can be life- changing and even life- saving. In the land of prison, women have truly been stripped to the bone - theirs is no imaginative exercise - their bodies are physically stripped, their children are taken from them, their loved ones removed, their house, clothes, all gone.
Where so much has been taken, there is nothing to hide behind. It's all about what remains - your heart, your soul.
The publication of these selected works is a tribute not only to the women who have created them but to the extraordinarily skilled artists from Somebody's Daughter Theatre who have worked with these women - encouraging, teaching, nurturing and drawing out their talents.
Attending art classes is the best thing that
has happened to me since being incarcerated.
It has brought out my artistic side which lay
dormant for so long. It has given me inner
peace – I've become a better artist and a
better person. My children comment on how
placid and easy going I am and that tells me
that without the art, in this environment I
would not be where I am today.
I've got eleven years to go and I will continue
to grow and learn through art because it
takes me to my own inner world where I am
not in prison. It reminds me of what life was
like and what I have missed out on.
Donna
When I come to the art class I find it very
peaceful and I get a sense of stepping
out of everyday prison life. I can just focus
on my work and I want to be here. We are not
made to do art, we are asked if we want to do
it and this makes a huge difference.
I never thought that I could draw and it has
given me a huge boost to my confi dence and
self esteem, because nothing is impossible.
Putting my thoughts on paper gives me the
incentive to do more than I think I can. Since
I've been coming to art classes I have found
an escape from everyday prison life. To know
that I have potential to do art means that I
can do anything. I never thought that I could
draw and now I think "What else can I do?"
Jodi