Rahne Dreams of Saving the World

Animals are presented in complex mythological configurations in fairy tales, advertising, literature and visual representations. From the oldest existing images made by humans we can see how visual art always returns to the idea of animal as our closest point of contact with the non-human world. This portrait contributes to re-evaluations of the nature/culture dichotomy through the motif of DC Comics character Rahne Sinclair, aka super-heroine Wolfsbane. The title and the larger-than-life persona challenge the notion that feminine alignment with the natural world is necessarily negative. This reduction linocut was shown alongside Cininas' earlier hand printed and sewn costumes and photographs, all exploring constructions of the female werewolf. The linocuts were the only traditional prints in the exhibition of predominately 3D works and large scale installations.
Jointly curated by Linda Williams, Senior Lecturer, RMIT University and Suzanne Davies, Director, RMIT Gallery, an academic symposium and public forum was part of the exhibition program. Artists included: Australia: Karen Abernathy, Peter Cole, Barbara Dover, Kate James, Kevin Mortensen, David Noonan, Selina Ou, Simon Perry, Lisa Roet, Joan Ross, Kathy Temin; Germany: Joseph Beuys, Katrin Isabel Ernst; Hubert Duprat (Fr); Nicholas Lampert (USA) and Diego Perroni (Italy). Also exhibited in 2007 in: This is Not a Print Show, Plimsoll Gallery Tasmania, touring Burnie Regional Art Gallery and Wagga Wagga, Gippsland and Lake Macquarie Art Galleries; Printmaking; Jenny Port Gallery; The Girlie Werewolf Project: Heretics & Hirsute Heroines, PJP Centre for Australian Printmaking. Reproduced in article by noted printmaking scholar, Sasha Grishin, 'Australian Art Collector', Issue 43 Jan-Mar 2008. 'Melbourne-based artist printmaker Jazmina Cininas has developed an unusual obsession', writes Sasha Grishin. 'In her imagery for the last 15 years there is a constant self-identification with the werewolf'.