As one of our Re:ACTIVATE Aspiring Artists, 18-year old Mollie Shaw’s The Strong Woman was created as part of SCAPE Public Art Season 2020.  

IMAGE: Mollie Shaw, The Strong Woman, 2020. Image courtesy of Mollie Shaw and SCAPE Public Art. 

Mollie Shaw was a double winner in 2020, taking home both the senior category of our Re:ACTIVATE Aspiring Artists Competition and the 2020 People’s Choice Award!  

A student at Rangi Ruru Girls’ School, Mollie’s entry, The Strong Woman, was designed as a mirage of coloured mosaic tiles that create the image of a woman at human scale. Looking closely, parts of the mosaic image are fragmented, signifying that some of her life force is missing – a secret exposed through Mollie’s representation. However, from a specific perspective, the fragmented image can be viewed as a whole, strong woman.