Artist Statement // A StormCenter is a warning of something dangerous coming. This title highlights female tropes in western Cinema; ‘Fridging’ a term coined by Gail Simone, where a female character is killed off so the male lead has an excuse to go on a vengeful rampage, reducing her to nothing more than an excuse for toxic behaviour; and ‘The Final Girl’ a trope in horror movies, were the last man standing is a woman. StormCenter is a video work of edited clips from cinema exploring these tropes. Shown on two televisions side by side — connected as if a mirror— these clips reflect the common threads in depictions of women, at once the most valuable and the most easily disposed of. My work has always championed the female presence in cinematic space and how she was empowered in her own life. This work shows that even though change is sometimes glacially slow, it’s still coming and we should all batten down the hatches.

Sarah Tickle completed Honours in Visual Art at Adelaide Central School of Art in 2015. Since graduating she has exhibited at Newmarch Gallery, Collective Haunt, Gallery 1855, and numerous times at FELTspace. In 2020 Sarah undertook an Adelaide Film Festival mentorship with artistic duo SODA_JERK including multiple screening opportunities. In 2018 Sarah was a finalist in the UnitCare Services Moving Image Award for SALA Festival.

Due to being agoraphobic as a teen, cinema was the only outlet she had to the external world creating a deep connection with television and movies an unintentional outcome was a profound understanding of the language of cinema and in turn, found she could use this as her medium.

Tickles personal connection with the fictional characters of the big screen is her primary interest and conceptual concern which feeds her artistic practice.

sarahtickle.com

Paul Gazzola writes about Sarah Tickle in Neoterica 2024.

Sarah Tickle, Storm Center, 2024, video installation, dimensions variable, duration 1.11, image: courtesy artist