Horse Girl
Lily Stace
STUDENT ARTWORK
Category
Moving Image
Artwork medium
Video
ARTIST STATEMENT
Poking fun at traditional representations of women in film, Horse Girl explores themes of femininity, renditions of beauty, desirability curated from the male gaze, body autonomy and deception through a shift in portrayal from beautiful to uncanny. How did you first perceive this woman? How do you perceive her now? The work explores aspects of femininity that are animalistically personified, like kitten heels, pussies, ponytails, piggy tails, doe eyes and [the word] 'bitch', for example. Between women and horses specifically, there lives a historic parallel—both vessels, tools, a 'means to an end'. Horse Girl takes this relationship and runs with it—or perhaps I should say gallops. Intrigued by the portrayal of jarring beauty and feminist body horror in works like multimedia artist Carolee Schneemann’s avant-garde Meat Joy, Marielle Heller’s Night Bitch and Coralie Fargeat’s The Substance, Horse Girl depicts the unique frustrations of sexism, self-loathing and the disconnect between the mind and body related to the feminine experience. Depicted through the stark, jarring and eerie atmosphere curated by the camera lens as the feminine figure gets ready for a girls' night out.
ARTIST INTRODUCTION
I'm a 21-year-old who moved to Sydney at the beginning of 2025 to start uni. I live to be inspired and chose to study both my passions: science and fine arts. Knowledge is power, and I'm so grateful to be able to learn as much as I can while also testing the boundaries of my creativity.
CONTACT
Email: lily.taff04@gmail.com
Instagram: @lily.stace
Acknowledgement of Country
UNSW School of Art & Design stands on an important place of learning and exchange first occupied by the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples.
We acknowledge the Bidjigal and Gadigal peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land that our students and staff share, create and operate on. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend this respect to all First Nations peoples across Australia. Sovereignty has never been ceded.
