Meet 7 superwomen of arts and social sciences
Meet Janelle Evans
Janelle Evans is a contemporary artist and filmmaker. She is interested in print and photographic history and her research is mainly centred on early colonial representations of first contact encounters in Australia as well as visual and pictorial representations of Aboriginal women during the 19th century.
1. What inspires you to do work in this field?
I was inspired to work in this field after reading books by academics Kay Schaeffer and Jane Lydon, who researched how photographic images and newspaper accounts of Aboriginal women in the nineteenth century were highly constructed to create a fabricated myth of transgressiveness that has penetrated deep into the Australian consciousness.
2. If you could have dinner with three women (dead or alive), who would they be?
My 4x great grandmother Elizabeth Rymes Everingham who was a convict on the Second Fleet. She played a pivotal role as founder of a huge dynasty in this country. Her thousands of descendants are truly multicultural and include Dharug, Thai, Greek, Hungarian, Anglo-Celtic and many other cultures. She brought her children up to contribute their best and amongst her descendants we find politicians, scientists, doctors, thespians, academics and sports stars as well as the many others who contribute to their local communities.
Germaine Greer – I’ve always been fascinated by Germaine Greer, by her towering intellect, her contribution to feminism and her willingness to push boundaries.
Eleanor Roosevelt – She contributed so much to American society not only as the wife of a president, but in her own right by effecting changes to law particularly in relation to underage marriage.
3. Tell us about your proudest career moment?
This would definitely be seeing my students graduate with their degrees and go on to achieve their goals in their careers.
Also, being the first Fine Art postgraduate student to receive the HS Carslaw Memorial Scholarship to study at Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge and being a recipient of the Charles Perkins AO, memorial prize, University of Sydney, and a finalist in the Graduate Medal, University of Sydney.
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