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. The inheritance of what we are taught to be, the expectations we learn to resist and the unspoken ways women hold and heal one another. In a culture that still romanticises heterosexual love as the ultimate fulfilment, this piece pushes the idea that the most enduring form of love for many women is found in female friendships. It honours the women who have stood beside us at witnessed us at our raw selves, without competition.
This work reflects a wider cultural shift: women choosing to invest their time and emotional intelligence into other women rather than men that drain them. The circle of shoes becomes a symbolic space where femininity exists without performance. By reclaiming that space between women, ‘Girlhood’ reframes love as something we inhabit, not something we earn.
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 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
There was a need to be chosen, we were shown that love, safety and worth would arrive through romantic validation. In a world where women inherit the risk of harm, disappointment and reduced self worth, choosing a male partner is no longer just wishful thinking it became a hazard. 'Girlhood' exposes that tension by tracing the conditioning that teaches women to desire love before they learn boundaries or safety. It rejects the 'good girl' narrative that rewards women for being desirable, even when the men who desire them are not always safe.
Love used to mean supporting a man's potential even at the cost of self abandonment. 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 ourselves, our friendships and our own life.
Display recommendations
If you have build 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.
