Celebrating the Love Found in Friendship
The Story Behind the Artwork
‘Girlhood’ was created to explore the emotional language that connects women across generations, cultures and circumstances. It reflects on the inheritance of what we are taught to be, the expectations of what we learn to resist, and the quiet, unspoken ways women hold and heal one another.
In a culture that continues to romanticise heterosexual love as the ultimate fulfilment, this piece portrays the love that is found in female friendships. This work speaks to a wider cultural shift: women choosing to invest their time and emotional intelligence into one another rather than into relationships that drain them.
This work reframes love as something we inhabit, not something we must earn. It is an act of honouring the women who make us whole.
Visual elements
The circle of shoes creates a visual space with no beginning or end, a space where women exist without hierarchy or performance. Each heel represents a fragment of becoming a woman: self-discovery, rage, heartbreak and the slow process of unlearning of internalised misogyny. Removed from the male gaze, the circle of shoes celebrates the intimacy found in female connection, and the act of choosing yourself.
Meaning and intent
From an early age we are taught to take care of and be chosen by others. As we get older we are rewarded for being desirable even when the men who desire us are not always safe. We pour ourselves into male partners in pursuit of love before we've even really learnt what love looks like. Love used to mean supporting a man's potential even at the cost of self abandonment. As we grow up, we realise that love comes from pursuing our dreams, passions and friendships, showing up for ourselves and our life.
This work honours the women who stopped waiting to be chosen and chose themselves instead. It is about unlearning the idea that sacrifice equals love, refusing to shrink in exchange for 'protection', and recognising that self worth is built internally. It is the refusal to pour emotional labour into building a man's life, and instead reclaiming that energy for yourself, your friendships and your own life.
Display recommendations
If you have built the kind of safe space for your inner child in your home where no one asks you to perform or shrink, this piece was made for that wall. Hang it somewhere women gather or in a place that belongs fully to you. Let it anchor you in the kind of love you never have to earn. A reminder that you grew up searching for a love that already exists in the women around you and the woman you became.
If this painting reminds you of the love you have found in female friendships rather than romance, it's already speaking to you. Let’s discuss bringing it home.
