






Sofia Mitsola
Lady Ghislaine, 2022
Oil on canvas
240 x 230 x 3.6 cm
94 1/2 x 90 1/2 x 1 3/8 in
94 1/2 x 90 1/2 x 1 3/8 in
Copyright The Artist
Further images
A new body of work for Mitsola, this series of large-scale paintings, present a new form for her female characters the 'Predator Supremus'. In Mitsola’s imagined mythologies and hierarchies these...
A new body of work for Mitsola, this series of large-scale paintings, present a new form for her female characters the 'Predator Supremus'. In Mitsola’s imagined mythologies and hierarchies these characters occupy the highest ranking. The angular structure of the painting, in contrast to the rounded figure, exaggerates this hierarchy as she sits atop the pyramid.
At first glance, Lady Ghislaine appears to be pregnant however the painting captures the protagonist at the moment of having just consumed her prey. Mitsola plays with this duality, connoting the nurturing qualities of a pregnant mother with the reality of a predatory figure on the attack. A gaze is fixed on the viewer of both coyness and control, again, another ambiguity within the work.
The figure is dressed in a large Perukae, a symbol of metamorphoses for Mitsola who is interested in capturing her figures at a moment of transition or dominance. Her cape is adored with the iconography of Medusa, another reference to the threat of the female gaze.
At first glance, Lady Ghislaine appears to be pregnant however the painting captures the protagonist at the moment of having just consumed her prey. Mitsola plays with this duality, connoting the nurturing qualities of a pregnant mother with the reality of a predatory figure on the attack. A gaze is fixed on the viewer of both coyness and control, again, another ambiguity within the work.
The figure is dressed in a large Perukae, a symbol of metamorphoses for Mitsola who is interested in capturing her figures at a moment of transition or dominance. Her cape is adored with the iconography of Medusa, another reference to the threat of the female gaze.