Apotropaica is an imaginary place-name, constructed from the word ‘apotropaic’ meaning to have a magical ability to ward off evil and the Italian translation of the same word which is ‘apotropaico’. In both ancient mythology and history, the stories of powerful gender-marginalised people have been told citing the heroine as either victim or villain, the ‘fragile feminine’ or ‘evil temptress’. The most notorious apotropaic icon being the Medusa and her misappropriated origin story as well as Persephone and the pomegranate - a forbidden fruit that she was tricked into eating and ultimately lead to her being held captive in the underworld by Hades for six months of the year.

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Inspired by the cadence of the pop-culture TV show The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills and drawing parallels with ancient mythologies, personal histories, and the current political climate, this solo presentation by the artist Olivia Strange offers a body of work that reclaims the narrative, telling the story via a queer lens, from a more empathetic and empowering point of view.

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As a self-identified and practicing witch, Strange explores the historical persecution of witches and gender-marginalised people for their sense of self-directed feminine power, intellectual and sexual freedom. This theme recurs throughout her work, intertwined with the landscapes of fantasy and otherworldly dimensions. Themes of pleasure, jouissance, desire, power, spirituality & escapism are explored by subverting universal codified objects, gestures, and icons to portray an empowering image of queer subjectivity, with the hope of cultivating empathy for continually othered experiences.

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As the cultural climate grows ever-more hostile to difference, The Real Housewives of Apotropaica reclaims ancient mythologies and rewrites the narrative, delving deeper into these origin stories to offer an alternative, empowering, and empathetic view. Honouring those who were persecuted, silenced, and othered - especially during the witch trials of the past and the systemic injustices of the present - the work aims to rewrite these stories, creating space for healing, visibility, joy, and expression. The works in the show are offered as apotropaic symbols - but rather than polarising between ‘good’ and ‘evil’, they explore the messiness and shadowy aspects of desire and the emotional landscape of grief, pain, longing, and heartbreak, whilst reclaiming the body—inclusive of all bodies across all gender expressions and identities—as a site for personal pleasure, power, and transmutation of the normative ideals and imprints that are no longer serving.