Isabella Nicoletti

‘Temper Tantrums’ is a multimedia installation exploring themes of feminine hysteria, possession, obsession: the horrific and beautiful experience of adolescent girlhood, our possession of each other, our obsession with the very ideal of the feminine. Through a series of oil paintings, the work appropriates and reflects on the idealisations of delicate femininity, replicating various historical paintings that embody this motif. Accompanying the paintings are a series of ghosts, both delicately embroidered with ribbon and motifs of innocent beauty, and coarse with shell shards and sand, illustrating the notion of volatility and possession. They are husks of femininity, still clinging to what makes them beautiful, inspired by tropes of feminine hysteria, Gothic narratives, and the consuming obsessions of girlhood. Drawing inspiration from both historical works (such as Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’) and contemporary female narratives (notably ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ and ‘Marie ‘Antoinette’), this instillation ultimately aims to reconcile the toxic, haunting experiences of girlhood with the euphoria of companionship, and exploration of individual feminine identity.

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Isabella Nicoletti is a multidisciplinary artist and student of art history. Deeply interested in literature and history, Nicoletti’s work speaks to a lifelong fascination with Gothic femininity, possession, and women’s narratives. Her work explores contemporary girlhood and hysteria through a conversation with the past, appropriating both memories and historical works.