Emily Hartley-Skudder: 'Meet Me in the Bathroom'

An exhibition of selected works to be found in entranceways to the bathrooms throughout Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre.

Meet Me in the Bathroom 

When Canterbury College – now the University of Canterbury – began classes in 1874, there was just one woman student accepted. This was nineteen years before women got the right to vote in Aotearoa. I hope she had access to a bathroom to use on campus. Public bathrooms are inescapably political – first and foremost they are about access. They are directly linked to women’s rights and mobility in public, liberating them from the confines of the home.

Public bathrooms have historically been repurposed as a space for sex and socialising between gay men before decriminalisation. Closures of bathrooms can be linked to discrimination against homeless people. Now there is a push to make bathrooms all-gender to protect trans and non-binary people, but this is sadly also receiving backlash and has been hijacked by attention-seeking politicians. For those who have less freedom and safety in public, the accessibility of private spaces like bathrooms for refuge is paramount.

The items which frequently appear in my work have connections to intimate aspects of our lives: toiletries, cleaning products, and sinks. I’m interested in our relationship with objects and environments and what they reveal about the expectations we place on our bodies. Ithink of the bathroom as a space of everyday ritual and escapism; a place to wash, excrete, hide, clean up, make up and break down. Meet Me in the Bathroom is an unusual kind of treasure hunt, exploring function and decoration while encouraging visitors to consider the significance of public and private spaces and the gender divisions attached to them.

This exhibition is in partnership with Jonathan Smart Gallery, and is part of Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre Creative Residences Programme, funded by Creative New Zealand.

View the Map of Artworks here.

Purchase Enquiries 

Jonathan Smart Gallery

jonathan@jonathansmartgallery.com

021 236 0017 | jonathansmartgallery.com

About the Artist

Emily Hartley-Skudder (b. 1988, Tāmaki Makaurau, Pākehā) is a visual artist known for her paintings, assemblages and installations. Usually based in Te Whanganui-a-Tara, she has spent the past 10 weeks in Ōtautahi at Te Matatiki Toi Ora The Arts Centre as an artist in residence. Emily graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts (First Class Honours) from Ilam School of Fine Arts, University of Canterbury in 2012. She has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions throughout Aotearoa and internationally. Last year she was based in Ōtepoti as the Frances Hodgkins Fellow, and also won the Molly Morpeth Canaday Major Award. She is represented by Jhana Millers Gallery, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, and Jonathan Smart Gallery, Ōtautahi.