Pencil Bandit (Southern Belle) - #2 in the She Renegades series
2008
Paint pen on canvas
This series played on the idea of turning the 'innocent girl' character archetype (inherent across numerous fictional texts) on its head. My research covered everything from folklore and fairy tales through to unsung real life heroines, criminals and martyrs. The series consisted of four large canvas banners, each profiling a different Renegade character. The Pencil Bandit (Southern Belle) was partly appropriated from a turn of the century photograph (sourced from National Geographic) of a child dressed up in costume, masked and armed for the New Orleans Mardi Gras. I'm not sure what child in the photograph was meant to be dressed as, but I changed the weapon from spike to a spear sized pencil. Thus her 'weapon' that the character holds became more of a 'tool as weapon' or 'weapon as tool'. Although the pencil is a writing tool and object synonymous with early education and written literacy...it is also sharp to a point and a little bit dangerous. Then again in another light, in regards to free speech, inscribing your signature or posting a message in public space - any writing tool could be considered a weapon of knowledge.
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