This body of work centres around the goddess Artemis.
She is a bold, multifaceted and uncompromising deity who watches over the wilderness, young girls and animals, and above all, the hunt. These paintings are an embodiment of that spirit. They embrace femininity and power, strength and fragility. As so often happens, the subjects of Penelope's paintings help create the work itself. It is a conversation, rather than a fixed plan, that allows these young women to surface, often within an environment that is not always welcoming.
As ever, the subjects of Penelope's work are masked, and she enjoys the parallel of this fierce protection of identity in Ovid's retelling of the story of Artemis (as Diana, her Roman counterpart) and Actaeon. In this story, Artemis bathes with her nymphs in a sacred grotto when the unfortunate Actaeon, a hunter, comes across her with his hounds. His transgression, whether intended or not, leads to his downfall, as he is, with a magical splash, transformed into a stag and set upon by his loyal dogs. While Actaeon's fate is brutal, the spirit of Artemis' actions inspires these paintings.