The Monstrous Femmes
The Monstrous Femmes is a collective duo between Zeena Al Tai and Toraigh Watson. We first met when studying together at Wimbledon College of Art. We graduated in 2020, a difficult year in general despite our difficulties to find opportunities and keep up the momentum post-graduation. After recognising similarities in the themes of both our work, we decided to come together to self initiate a project with the aim of creating our own opportunity. The title of the show and collective is named after Zeena’s beautifully monstrous tapestry and featured in the final installation of this show, ‘The Monstrous Femme’.
This exhibition explores our take on female agency and power in Celtic (and general) folklore. Toraigh being from Ireland and Zeena having Welsh heritage, we felt that this commonality was a good place to start. We began our research process by swapping books and music which have been influential to us. Our starting point being Perkins Gilman’s ‘Herland’, a novel about an island inhabited entirely by women who reproduce via parthenogenesis and Hannah Kent’s ‘The Good People’ set in a rural Irish village in the 1800s and is centred around the villages ‘Bean Feasa’ meaning woman of knowledge. From there we continued to share ideas and swap resources, the product being this series of immersive installations representing our take on these characters and narratives. Our intention for the work is to be humorous in parts and haunting in others. It highlights the strength and authority of these characters, whilst challenging other aspects which we felt didn’t represent us or the female identifying people around us.
room no. 1
Room no. 2
'Bog Bodies' Dry Point Etching, T. Watson, 2019 £100
'Untitled' Dry Point Etching, T. Watson, 2019 £50
'Untitled' Dry Point Etching, T. Watson, 2019 £50
'Coven' Dry Point Etching, Z. AlTai 2021 £100
'Soothe', Pencil on Somerset Paper, Z. AlTai, 2021 £100
'TART' Pencil on Somerset Paper, Z. AlTai, 2021 £150
Room no. 3
‘Desert Herland’
Tapestry and Visual Install by Z. AlTai
Music by T. Watson. Track 1: ‘I would like to be on a beach’. Track 2: ‘Interlude’
Zeena's Tapestry was born from a want to be somewhere else during lockdown. The desert landscape was inspired by her love for dry arid environments and Middle Eastern heritage. The title of this work is a reference to Charlotte Perkins Gilman's novel 'Herland'.
There are two compositions accompanying this work that are created to exist alongside each other. Toraigh drew inspiration from similar ideas in both 'Herland' and the Irish Myth of 'Tir na n'Og'. Both of these explore idealised 'otherworlds'. Toraigh has created a dreamlike sonic journey through layers of warped piano and harp samples, flute melodies, and found sounds gathered within her home. The first composition 'Interlude' represents the moment of being in a dreamlike world, be it internally or physically, real or not. The second composition 'I want to be on a beach' resamples elements of the first track. In its many loops and repetitions, 'I want to be on a beach' explores the entrapment waiting for the idealised to become a reality.
Tapestry: £2500
Room no. 4
'You Used to be Interesting' Lino Print, Z. AlTai, 2019 £350
'Look at that Bush!' Lino Print, Z. AlTai, 2019 £250
'I Got Crabs Again!' Lino Print, Z. AlTai, 2021 £250
Room no. 5
‘Creatures of the underworld’
Drawings by Z. AlTai & T. Watson
Sound/lighting design by T. Watson
This installation brings together key elements and characters from the rest if the exhibition and from our research process. Here they meet in a chaotic frenzy of shadows. It's their big night out. The bass heavy music nods towards contemporary clubbing music and uses samples from the Cancan, a melody associated with a chorus of female dancers. The Can-Can is transposed to fminor for the flute and slowed down, aiming to be eerie, but still inticing.
Room no. 6
‘The Monstrous Femmes’
Tapestry & Visual Installation by Z. AlTai
‘Revival’ - Music/soundscape by T. Watson
Materiality: Embroidery on hand-dyed calico, screenprint on voile. acrylic on canvas and whittled pine
The Monstrous Femme is based on a poem by an Alieniste named Remy DeGourmont called 'Une Songe d'Une Femme' which is a sitirical nod toward portrayals of female figures in late 19th century literature. The aggressively chauvinistic main character of the tale meets his fate when he stumbles upon a lily garden with beautiful nude women inviting him in, suggesting sexual fulfillment. He is then taken by surprise when these female figures metamorphose into Monstrous hybrids of plant and human and proceed to consume him, punishing him for his hubris, entitlement to their bodies and his overall virulence.
The accompanying music 'Revival' was created in response to Zeena's tapestry. The melody builds in intensity, reflecting the transformation experienced by the characters in her visuals. The industrial sounds weaved into the music emphasise this further and are extracts of a collection of found sounds Toraigh has been collecting since moving to London where she has undergone many personal changes herself.
Tapestry: £2500