I’m really proud to share details about a collaboration I recently participated in: Dangerous Females x Australian Artist Collective. This project brought together the power of art and community to support victim-survivors of domestic and family violence, an issue that continues to be tragically prevalent in Australia. Unfortunately, at the time of writing this, 61 women and children have lost their lives this year alone in Australia, due to family violence.
The initiative was spearheaded by Brisbane-based artist Kate Quinn, an ex social worker, now full time artist, who successfully gathered 23 talented Australian artists, including myself, to contribute to this project. Each of us painted a floral of our choice, which were then photographed and put together to create a really beautiful design (pictured above). This combined design is now being featured on a range of Dangerous Females merchandise, including t-shirts (from kids’ sizes through to 5XL), sweaters, tea towels and tote bags, with all profits going directly to Beyond DV, a charity that works in both supporting recovery after DFV (domestic and family violence) and preventative education .
The (sold out) launch event for the collaboration was held at the Substation, in Paddington, Brisbane, on September 21; it was a really amazing community event and an opportunity to meet some of the artists and see the donated paintings. The 24 original paintings were auctioned online the following week, raising nearly $10,000! All proceeds went directly to Dangerous Females. DF are really well known for their punchy graphics, colourful t-shirt collabs and their ability to collaborate far and wide to spread awareness and education. In fact, the team have raised over $370k since 2018! So many people donated their time and skills to create a really beautiful event.
It’s been an honour to have contributed in some small way to this amazing project. A very big thank you goes out to Kate, the team at Dangerous Females, and the other remarkable artists involved in this project. It's been amazing to see the tee's out in the wild! This merch collab will be available to purchase until the end of 2024 - so we would love for you to support this cause and wear your t-shirts out and about!
Here are some handy links:
WHERE TO BUY MERCH
Featured artists (L-R): Claire Manchanda, Nicola Jones, Nerida Woolley, myself, Holly Neilson, Kate Quinn, Georgina Forbes and Sophie Corks. Photography by Stepha Stock.
Most of the original floral paintings, donated by the artists, hanging at the event launch. Photography by Stepha Stock.
Photography by Stepha Stock
My painting of a yellow mallee flower. I chose this particular floral because any sort of flowering gum are quite hardy and can grow in sometimes harsh conditions as long as it's still connected to the tree. As soon as it's cut from it's host, it doesn't survive long in a vase before falling apart. I thought it really drew a parallel with types of domestic violence and coercive control: cutting off someone from their support system and roots has devastating effects on the victim.
Photography by Stepha Stock
DANGEROUS FEMALES LTD. is registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission (ACNC)
ABN: 55 644 887 221
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