Art-Work Studios is set to host artist Tal Fitzpatrick’s first Gold Coast solo exhibition Quietly Seething, a new body of work exploring the power and pain of feminine rage.
Drawing inspiration from her own experiences, from conversations with friends and from stories collected via an anonymous survey, Tal makes use of the gentle and familiar textures of cloth to tackle the challenging emotional landscape of anger.
Through Tal's signature textile banners and text-based wall hangings, this exhibition dares to ask its female-identifying audience: Are you quietly seething? Answering back in a soft, comforting voice: It’s okay, I’m angry too.
We chatted to Tal ahead of the exhibition's opening on 26 May.
What inspired the idea of Quietly Seething?
Quietly Seething is my most personal body of work ever, it is the first time I’ve centred my own voice and experiences rather than bringing attention to the voices of others, which feels very scary to be honest. However, in making this work and through having these conversations about feminine rage, I’ve come to realise that this project isn’t really about me… it’s about all of us, because as feminism taught us decades ago: the personal is political.
“Every woman has a well-stocked arsenal of anger potentially useful against those oppressions, personal and institutional, which brought that anger into being. Focused with precision it can become a powerful source of energy serving progress and change.”
—Audre Lorde
I’ve realised through working on this project that all of my art is driven by anger. Whether it’s anger about human rights violations, gender based violence, or the lack of political will to tackle the climate crisis, my desire to make art is always linked to my desire to make change. While in the past, I tended to make art about international and global issues, the events of the past few year, particularly the lessons taught by BLM movement, have led me (along with many other white women in the craftivism and social justice space) to look inwards and start the work of changemaking at home.
“Your anger is a gift you give to yourself and the world that is yours. In anger, I have lived more fully, freely, intensely, sensitively, and politically. If ever there was a time not to silence yourself, to channel your anger into healthy places and choices, this is it.” – Soraya Chemaly, Rage Becomes Her: The Power of Women’s Rage
So I looked inwards, at my own quiet fury, which is always bubbling just under the surface – not exactly ignored but at the very least repackaged as something more palatable (passion, persistence, resilience, a smile hiding gritted teeth). And when I couldn’t stomach that, I did what I’m learning so many of us do, and pointed the anger inwards towards myself. Why? Because anger is the opposite of aspirational, especially for women. Indeed, my experience has been that women and girls are always expected to be the bigger person, to move past anger quickly and get straight to acceptance, grace and forgiveness… with no time to dwell on being hurt, or disappointed, no time to process loss of channel the transformative energy that comes with being justifiably incensed. No time for real change.
When you put it like that it comes as no surprise that women’s anger is stifled and suppressed.
“A society that does not respect women’s anger is one that does not respect women.” – Soraya Chemaly
Can you tell us about some of the most impactful responses you’ve had from your anonymous survey?
As part of this project I invited female identifying folk to complete an anonymous survey that asks them about their relationship to anger and about how they experience and relate to the emotion of anger. To be totally honest I started this survey because it felt way too vulnerable (and kind of self-indulgent) to create a whole body of work about my own feelings – so I decided to do what all good researchers do and that is go out and collect some data. To date, I’ve had over 50 responses and I have no words to express just how moving and revelatory the responses have been.
“I used to think I was never angry. Then I realised I was angry all the time. It sits beneath the surface. It feels like the tension in my neck, heat behind my eyes, little strings around my heart that squeeze every now and then. It’s usually anger at myself. Than at the world. Not often directly at one person but more of a general exasperation like a cry into the deafening wind.” – Anonymous, Quietly Seething Survey, 2023
I’ve learned that for many of us have internalised the negative stigma surrounding anger and as a result we don’t recognise it in ourselves (I’m never angry!) but anger is a shape shifter - it manifests in other ways (impatience, passive-aggression, anxiety, control, self-destructive behaviour). I’ve learned that so many of us cry in the shower, that we use exercise to use up that angry energy (and sometimes to punish ourselves), that we will try anything really to make sure we don’t come across as angry to those around us.
“I often suppress anger as I’m not really sure how to deal with it and often don’t feel entitled to that emotion. Like allowing myself to feel anger is narcissistic. I often shut down and seethe. It feels like hot coals in my throat and smoke in my eyes.” – Anonymous, Quietly Seething Survey, 2023
Undertaking this survey has made me realise that unless we are mid-crisis we don’t talk to anyone about the things in our lives that we are really angry about… and we need to! At least that’s what’s coming up – that talking/venting about it (mostly to our close female friends it seems) actually helps. Creating a space to have this conversation more communally is what I hope my project is able to do going forward. I am going to continue growing this body of work for at least another year, with the next phase of the project focusing more directly on the stories collected through this survey. If readers are interested in submitting their own experience with anger, you can find the link to the survey in my Instagram bio.
Here are a few more quotes from the anonymous survey:
“Anger feels taboo. Nice girls don't make waves. It also feels powerful. Sometimes it gives me clarity. I feel it as a pressure in my head and a swelling in my chest.”
– Anonymous, Quietly Seething Survey, 2023
“As a relatively new mother, my rage has become deeper since I gave birth. My partner and I have always had a strong partnership but the standard I am held to as a mother by society against his low bar as a father fills me with anger. The mental load of planning our lives is crushing, and the lack of awareness from him of what needs to be done is exhausting.”
– Anonymous, Quietly Seething Survey, 2023
“I am non-binary, but AFAB [assigned female at birth], and mainly read as female […] I’m angry at the double standards I have been subject to. I am angry that I have been put down, suppressed, as a person and an artist, […] I am angry that I hate my own body and feel let down and alienated by my body due to the shallow and toxic world that we live […] I am angry that I have to work harder than other people just to be recognised/ exist, and angry that others have it harder still. Mostly I am angry at the ways I have been and continue to be hated for no good reason at all.”
– Anonymous, Quietly Seething Survey, 2023
Why do you think women are afraid to express anger?
Part of the reason that women are afraid to express anger, which cannot be ignored or understated, is the fact that it is potentially unsafe. There is always a chance that our anger will be met with anger in return and as those women and girls who are victim to family and domestic violence know all too well, being on the receiving end of a man’s anger is dangerous. Projects such as @DeadWomenAus and The Red Heart Campaign, which memorialise those women and children lost to violence, area reminder of this brutal reality.
While most of us do not walk around with this threat consciously weighing on us or influencing how we choose to express anger – I believe it is linked to how girls are socialised from a very young age to be careful and to find other ways to express themselves, or ideally just not be angry at all ever.
Tell us about the workshops you’ll be running as part of the exhibition
The exhibition will be open for two weeks, including weekends and I wanted to use this opportunity to offer a few workshops, which will also be a space to have conversations about anger. The workshops are suitable for beginners, and the cost includes materials.
Quietly Seething T-Shirt Embroidery Workshop
Sunday May 28 2023, 10AM – 12pm, $60
Feminist Pennant Banner Making Workshop
Saturday, June 3 2023, 10AM – 2PM AEST, $150
Very Cross Stitching Embroidery Workshop
Sunday June 4 2023, 2PM – 4PM, $25
I’ll be giving at artist talk on Saturday 27 May from 11am-1pm and to mark the closing of the exhibition we will be hosting a Poetry Night about feminine rage on Thursday June 8, 6pm – 9pm. The night is being presented in partnership with Red Light Poetry, and will feature performances by Sarah Lock, Merinda Davies, Nadia Milford, and Lauren Woods.
All the information on these workshops and events, including ticketing information is up on the Art-Work Studios website: https://www.art-work.com.au/journal/quietly-seething-tal-fitzpatrick and you can also find it in the link in my Instagram bio @talfitzpatrick
Is there anything else you’d like people to know?
Quietly Seething will run for two weeks at Art-Work Studios, which is also where I’ve been working out of for the last four months to make all the work for this show. I am very grateful for the wonderful support and encouragement of the Art-Work Studio’s team, they are awesome and I’ve loved working alongside them all.
The gallery will be open 10AM – 2PM daily or by appointment: tal.fitzpatrick@gmail.com. Check @talfitzpatrick and @artworkagency on Instagram for updates Works will be available for purchase.
This project is proudly supported by the City of Gold Coast Regional Arts Development Fund.
The opening for 'Quietly Seething' is proudly sponsored by Gage Roads Brew Co, Konpira Maru Wine Company and Altina Drinks.
