Green Cinderellas 2022

Zoe Hawk painted “Green Cinderellas” sometime in the 20th century, and I can only imagine what it must have been like to make this dreamlike vision. The brushwork has a soft, almost hazy quality, especially in the background hills and sky. Up front, four women are depicted in a grassy field. I feel the hot sun and the weight of their chores. What could Hawk have been thinking? I'm reminded of Paula Modersohn-Becker's paintings of peasant women. It's a scene of labor, but the women also have a quiet strength and resilience. The figure with the axe especially, but all of them. They are the land, they work it, and so a powerful feminine force emerges. It is not hard to see their work ethic and how it inspires our creativity today.