New work by artists Mimi Leung and Ree Peric will be shown for the first time on the MAV website and on social media platforms together with a live broadcast of the artists in conversation with Melbourne-based curator and arts writer Sophia Cai.
Submerged explores themes of identity, representation, race and acceptance through the lens of the female body.
MAV chief executive Veronica Pardo said the online show presented two unique responses to the experience of being "othered" as women of colour, and the importance of defining your own value.
She said the artists’ depictions of the yellow, brown and black body challenged stereotypes and asserted agency and power.
Ree Peric is a 19-year-old Fijian-Croatian artist living and working on the traditional lands of the Yorta Yorta people.
Born in Australia, she grew up in Uganda before moving back to Shepparton in late 2014.
Ms Peric works across various mediums including visual art, performance, song-writing and music production.
For Submerged she has created a series of drawings of black and brown female bodies that celebrate the natural body in all forms, colours and sizes.
Ms Peric said she wanted to express the importance of women of colour being understood and respected in their own nature.
“This has been inspired by my own experiences and conversations — and reactions to recent events such as the Black Lives Matter demonstrations.
“It's also a reaction to the images of beauty portrayed in the media. It's a visual take on a serious topic,” she said.
She uses an iPad and just her fingers to create her portraits.
Established artist Mimi Leung was born in Hong Kong, grew up in England and now lives in Shepparton.
Her energetic, colourful designs exploring belonging and identity have been seen in galleries, on murals and on a Melbourne tram.
She said her new body of work for Submerged was about growing up as a "yellow" woman, and coming to terms with her lived experiences that had been constantly denied or rejected within a predominantly white context. A central theme of her new work is motherhood, and the way her thinking has shifted through seeing her own children move through similar spaces.
Ms Pardo said the project had included a mentoring collaboration with Ms Cai to strengthen the artists’ skills in writing about their artistic practices.
Submerged will launch on Thursday, February 25 at 6 pm on the MAV website and on Facebook and YouTube.
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