Roxy Peroxyde’s Bold Take on Iconic Art: Celebrating Women’s Progress and Struggles
Roxanne Sauriol Hauenherm who goes by the name Roxy Peroxyde, is a Canadian self-taught portraiture artist who creates paintings of women with poses and compositions appropriated from historical masterpieces. Essentially, Roxy has recreated iconic paintings such as the Mona Lisa and Girl with a Pearl Earring in a contemporary setting. In her renditions, the sitters wear modern clothes and accessories and style themselves as people do today while expressing themselves freely as women can today.
These paintings contemplate how, despite changes in time, both progress and stalemates have been made in terms of achieving gender equality. In certain ways, women are more liberated yet still acquired to fit into moulds and roles made by the patriarchy—the same gender roles that existed when the historical paintings in question were made. This is why the paintings by Roxy Peroxyde are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of Gender Equality.
Take, for example, her rendition of Girl with a Pearl Earring, aptly titled The Girl with the Grills. In Roxy’s version of the painting, a Black girl now stands in the place of Vermeer’s ideal image of a girl. Roxy’s girl is not concerned with what the audience would think of her, as Vermeer’s is. Instead, she enjoys herself, caught up in pure joy as if dancing away at a beach party. This piece becomes a celebration of women’s self-expression and joy, which can now be expressed more freely in public as compared to Vermeer’s times when women were mandated to be mild-mannered and obedient.
On the other hand, Roxy’s take on Botticelli’s Birth of Venus looks directly at its audience whereas its counterpart does not. Titled It comes in waves, Roxy’s Venus poses confidently in her almost naked state, whereas Botticelli’s Venus tries her best to cover her naked body. Here, audiences can see a shift of attitude when it comes to women’s bodies, with feminist movements paving the way for body-positive attitudes which allow women to feel comfortable in their own skin.
Roxy also does not forget to discuss today’s wider acceptance of gender fluidity compared to the Renaissance. She reflects on this in her painting Through the grapevine, her rendition of Portrait of a Girl with a Bottle and a Glass where a woman with masculine facial structures has taken the place of the 17th century girl.
Roxy Peroxyde’s contemporary renditions of historical masterpieces offer profound commentary on the evolving yet persistent gender equality issues. By reimagining iconic portraits from art history with today’s women who can express themselves freely, Roxy highlights the progress made in women's liberation. At the same time, her adamant insistence on making sure that these portraits follow similar poses and compositions acknowledges how there are still constraints on gender equality today that have existed since the Renaissance.
Find out more about paintings by Roxy Peroxyde and her other initiatives by checking her website www.roxyperoxyde.com or Instagram @roxyperoxyde.