The Price Of Everything And The Value Of Nothing

2019, Oil on Italian Linen, 120 x 100cm

Sure, the story of Dido, Queen of Carthage, is almost 3000 years old. But that’s the thing about a universal story; the themes hold true.  

After resisting the advances of Aeneas, she eventually succumbed to his charms after a little help from that troublemaker, Cupid. After dumping her to fulfil his destiny, Dido was devastated and committed suicide. Another version has her committing suicide to avoid a forced marriage. In either version her fate was determined by the will of men.  

And so what has changed in the intervening millennia? Women still find themselves having to conform to unrealistic ideals and expectations in order to achieve the same recognition men receive by default.