Lily Martin

It’s just a little weed…

This body of work revolves around a central theme of weeds being a symbolic representation and metaphor for the sexism that powers violence against women. 

My aim in this project, is to try to create a series of images that allow men to begin to appreciate and understand the female experience. How it is not one incidence of rape or murder that grinds us down, but the all day, everyday instances of sexism that we endure. This project is my attempt to get men to recognise not the tip of the iceberg, but the subtle, pervasive and constant instances of sexism underneath it. It’s all the little things. 

I want to portray women as heroic and tough and resilient. We are proactive problem solvers who despite feeling fearful in this society, we still find ways to go about our daily lives. We are tough. 

In developing my concept, I went on a journey from an initial idea of a linear narrative which over a period of time morphed into a more conceptual idea that I hoped allowed people to delve into and think about and interpret on their own, rather than the linear narrative which would have told them what to think. The conceptual idea is a bit more abstract and absurd but I hoped that this would allow viewers more room for interpretation.