Baroness Elsa Von Freytag Loringhoven

I stumbled across the artist and poet Baroness Elsa Von Freytag Loringhoven when I was researching ‘Fountain’ for the exhibition ‘First Flush’ at Parramatta Artists’ Studios in 2010.

Even though proof exists that the Baroness and not Marcel Duchamp was the artist responsible for ‘Fountain’ (an icon of 20th century art), history has not been rewritten. Her life story, artwork, performances and peers are a never ending inspiration to my own practice of mostly performance and painting.

The Baroness epitomises the feminist idea that woman are overlooked and not represented fairly within the art world past and present.

Trying to emulate the wonderful and outlandish performances of the Baroness I have begun taking my own to new levels. Performances include - wearing a cake with flaming candles on my head (after the Baroness) – cutting through a painting I made of the Baronesses’ ‘unsupporting’ peers, including Man Ray and Salvadore Dali. I then did a provocative dance to a version of ‘Hey Big Spender’ by Shirley Bassy in which I engaged a professional singer to change the lyrics to ‘hey curator’.