Frances Phoenix (née Budden) (1950–2017) was an Australian feminist artist known for

needlework Needlework refers to decorative sewing and other textile arts, textile handicrafts that involve the use of a Sewing needle, needle. Needlework may also include related textile crafts like crochet (which uses a crochet hook, hook), or tatting, ( ...

and

poster A poster is a large sheet that is placed either on a public space to promote something or on a wall as decoration. Typically, posters include both typography, textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or w ...

designs. Phoenix contributed to the Women's Art Movement groups in both

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

and

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, as well as multiple community art projects. With

Marie McMahon Marie Elizabeth Rita McMahon (born September 1953) is an Australian artist, known for her paintings, prints, posters, drawings, and design work. Born in Melbourne, she has worked in various communities of Australian Aboriginal people and works in ...

, she was a founding member of the Women's Domestic Needlework Group and contributed to Judy Chicago's ''

The Dinner Party ''The Dinner Party'' is an installation artwork by American feminist artist Judy Chicago. There are 39 elaborate place settings on a triangular table for 39 mythical and historical famous women. Sacajawea, Sojourner Truth, Eleanor of Aquitaine, ...

'' (1974–1979). She continued to study and practice art for the rest of her life. Her needlework and poster designs are held in national collections.

Early life

Phoenix was born in 1950. She originally studied to become a teacher at the

National Art School The National Art School (NAS) is a tertiary level art school, located in , an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The school is an independent accredited higher education provider offering specialised study in studio arts ...

and Alexander Mackie Teacher’s College,

Career

In 1974, she joined Australia's first Women's Art Movement, based in Sydney. Around this time, Phoenix began experimentations with domestic needlework, generating central core imagery,

Australiana Australiana is anything pertaining to Australian culture, society, geography and ecology, especially if it is endemic to Australia or has reached iconic status. It includes people, places, flora, fauna and events of Australian origins. Austr ...

and activist slogans in stitch. With

, Phoenix began a

doily A doily (also doiley, doilie, doyly, or doyley) is an ornamental mat, typically made of paper or fabric, and variously used for protecting surfaces or binding flowers, in food service presentation, or as a clothing ornamentation, as well as ...

archive, researching the history of women's needlework and running women's needlework classes at the

Tin Sheds The Tin Sheds was the common name of the Sydney University Art Workshop, an Australian art workshop in Sydney, New South Wales, founded in 1969. Its name lives on in the Tin Sheds Gallery at the University of Sydney School of Architecture, De ...

art collective in the grounds of

Sydney University The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. With

Joan Grounds Joan Grounds (born 31 August 1939) is an American-born artist. She has been exhibiting in Australia and internationally from 1967. Her solo and collaborative artwork is held in the National Gallery of Australia (ceramics), the National Gallery o ...

, Bernadette Krone, Kathy Letray, Patricia McDonald, Noela Taylor, and Loretta Vieceli, McMahon and Phoenix formed the Women's Domestic Needlework collection, preparing the archive for a touring exhibition, beginning at

Watters Gallery Watters Gallery (1964–2018) was a private art gallery in Riley Street Sydney, Australia, run by Frank Watters (1934 – May 2020) with his business partners and friends Geoffrey and Alex Legge. It was influential and well-known, hosting exhibit ...

, Sydney. The group supplemented the exhibition with research in ''

Lip The lips are a horizontal pair of soft appendages attached to the jaws and are the most visible part of the mouth of many animals, including humans. Mammal lips are soft, movable and serve to facilitate the ingestion of food (e.g. sucklin ...

,'' two publications: ''The D'oyley Show: An Exhibition of Women’s Domestic Fancywork'' and ''Work for Dainty Fingers'' and a series of 10 screenprinted posters. With Marie McMahon, Phoenix travelled to the United States of America to contribute needlework skills to Judy Chicago's ''The Dinner Party'' (1974–79). Phoenix' account of the experience is detailed in her publication ''Our story/Herstory? Working on Judy Chicago's Dinner Party.'' While in Sydney, Phoenix was also a founding member of Matilda Graphics and the local feminist arts publication ''F/Arts''. In the early 1980s, Phoenix joined the Adelaide Women's Art Movement. She spearheaded multiple community art projects including ''Double our Numbers'' and ''The Alchemists' Teaparty''. She continued to study throughout her life, completing a masters degree in visual art on ''The critical corpse : re-(inter)preting the abject dead animal in visual art'' at the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1991, it is the successor of the former South Australian Institute of Technology. Its main campuses along North Terrace are ...

Works

*''Queen of Spades'' (previously known as ''Kunda''), 1975, doily mounted on board *''No Goddesses , No Mistresses'', no goddesses no mistresses (anarcho-feminism), 1978, insert for a ‘Dinner Party’ runner: red embroidery cotton on white commercial doily, 29.7 x 21 cm *''Grow your own grassroots defiance against the capitalist plot: Victory'', 1981, four-colour screen printed poster

Exhibitions

* Unfinished Business,

Australian Centre for Contemporary Art The Australian Centre For Contemporary Art (ACCA) is a contemporary art gallery in Melbourne, Australia. The gallery is located on Sturt Street in the Melbourne Arts Precinct, in the inner suburb of Southbank, Victoria, Southbank. Designed by W ...

, 2018 * The D'Oyley Show, Watters Gallery and touring in Port Kembla, Nowra, Broken Hill, Orange, Bathurst, Maitland, Armidale, Lismore, 1979

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Phoenix, Frances 1950 births 2017 deaths National Art School alumni Australian women artists University of South Australia alumni Australian textile artists 20th-century women textile artists 20th-century textile artists 21st-century women textile artists 21st-century textile artists