Renee So
Woman III, 2018
Renee So's idiosyncratic practice is inspired by art history, museum collections and gendered symbolism across civilisations. Her work embraces historical craft methods and cross-cultural references, while engaging with an underlying sense of the comedic. In Woman III 2018, So continues her exploration of figurative ceramic vessels and the female form, drawing on her extensive research into the representation of women’s bodies in prehistoric statuettes and anthropomorphic vessels of China, Japan, and Mesoamerica. Often depicting robust and voluptuous bodies in the nude, these objects suggest female power for potential use in cultural and religious rituals.
Standing on sturdy, powerful tripod legs with her ‘hands’ on her hips, the work plays with form—both figure and vessel— and reflects the artist’s distinctive aesthetic. Hand-built and finely modelled, detailed attention has been paid to the figure’s pubic hair, hairstyle, and stylised breasts.
- Artist / Maker
- Renee So (1974)
- Creation Date
- 2018
- Collection
- University Art Collection
- Subjects
- Art and design - ceramics - art
- Materials used
- stoneware
- Dimensions
(H x W x D) - 46 x 22 x 23 cm
- Credit line
- The University of Melbourne Art Collection. Purchased, 2023
- Accession number
- 2023.008.001
- Copyright
- © Renee So DACS/Copyright Agency, 2025 Request Access