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Bronwyn Leigh LLoyd Australian artist born 1952 in Mornington Victoria, passed in November 2016

"It took two marriages & a six year relationship to inform my art. "The Life of A Virgin" & "Seven Saints" were created from a state of emotional turmoil and it wasn't until later, as I worked through it, that I realized what I had put a voice to. During the time with my long term partner I created the "Bods" which came from a much more peaceful, whimsical place."

Bronwyn's practice Constrained by her upbringing Lloyd has spent most of her life as a rebellious soul. Dropping out of art school, falling into film and traveling Europe helped shape this young feminist as she grappled with notions of perfection in society. Lloyd has explored numerous mediums throughout her career in order to exorcise her demons. They include sculptural and mixed media pieces in addition to the paper cutting series she is most widely known for. The precision and starkness of these black and white works lay bare her subconscious in irreverent and often humorous stark relief.

“Previously my creativity had been sporadic at best, dropping out of art school, writing and directing student films, acting plus dabbling in oils, pastels and numerous craft mediums. But the whole time I was constrained by my upbringing to be a 'good' girl, not to ask questions and be polite! It was a trip to England and Europe where I saw loads of religious art that finally made me question my need to be perfect in the eyes of all I met. I see many traditional images of women as the propaganda of social control. Returning home I began on The Foolish Virgins just for fun, then Seven Saints and lastly The Life of A Virgin. It wasn't until I'd finished that I realized my unconscious had unrevealed itself in black and white for all to see! Paper Virgins is my attempt to describe links between historical & modern images of women & how those images influence society's perceptions.The Paper Virgins depicted are empowered by their own physicality and possibility of change.”

Paper cutting as an art form has been practised for hundreds of years in the East and West, each cultural group developing its own particular styles and symbolism. The method used to illustrate Paper Virgins is primarily a combination of silhouette and Chinese free cuts where the inside of the design is cut into. The challenge of working in black and white is to convey nuances of meaning that would otherwise be expressed in greys. Loaded with feminist irreverence Bronwyn's work explores the influence of religion on culture and the deep personal impression the female iconography of the Catholic church made.

“It took over forty years of a rather chaotic life to produce something I felt worked. Mostly I'm a Melbourne girl but this work (The Paper Virgins) was produced in sweltering Queensland where my life of doubt and self-loathing finally came to fruition.”

Bronwyn attended the following institutions: Middle Park Central School 1960-67, Mentone Girls High School 68-70 1st year Nursing, Prince Henry's Hospital. Caulfield Technical T.O.P 1978, Chisholm Institute Fine Art 80-82 Swinburne Institute, Post Graduate diploma - Film & TV