Brittney Leeanne Williams, Naomi and Ruth: No Beginning and No End, 2019

Twisted perceptions… This engrossing painting by Chicago-based artist Brittney Leeanne Williams features in Elephant Issue 42, alongside a powerful essay by Rhea Dillon, entitled 10 Ideas About the Increasing Extension of Womxnhood. In it, Dillon considers different ten elements of womxnhood, exploring how society’s current “hegemonic gender performances” are used to stifle womxn, and in particular womxn of colour’s bodies and voices. Williams’ work serves as an apt visual accompaniment, centred as it is around red, often contorted figures as vessels for female trauma. Purchase Issue 42 here

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