Series of 12 drawings, pen on paper, 850 x 1350 mm

Meticulously drawn patterns of contemporary lace tights fill the traced outline of the artists’ own legs. Each drawing celebrates and honours a member of the 18th Century Bluestocking Society, a group of wealthy women who at a time when women were denied access to formal education, used social gatherings to educate themselves on the scientific and cultural issues of the day. They also provided patronage to pioneering women artists, writers and musicians. Despite their influence and power, they fell into historical obscurity with the term ‘bluestocking’ becoming a derogatory insult for an intellectual woman.