Ladystar: my jukebox heroines came from a desire to pay homage to all of the female musicians who have inspired me. I started to write a list. It was vast and eclectic, so I decided to focus on my interests between ten and twenty years old, though the pieces in this show do not even represent my whole list!

I'm lucky to have been surrounded by music lovers throughout my life, and being born in the mid 70s, I connected with the eclectic tastes of the adults and teens around me - everything from glam rock, to punk, to disco, to 60s and 70s rock.

As children, my cousin and I would flip through our aunts’ record collections -way more interested in the album art than the music. By the time I was ten, the age of the music video was in full swing. The fashions and visuals of the 80s fascinated me, and I started to form my own tastes in music and pop culture. I started going to the public library to borrow albums. This was how I discovered Patti Smith! Her album, Horses, was already a decade old by the time I got my hands on it, but I didn’t care about that. The cover was so compelling to me, and the music spoke to me on a deep level, though I wasn’t old enough to fully “get it”. Patti joined my ever-growing list of favourite artists, and my passion for music has never stopped!

 

"Kim Gordon - Sonic Youth" 2017
Papier-mâché, acrylic paint and various fabrics
6" x 10" x 5"