Taking its title from John Waters’ cult classic, Female Trouble explores archetypal femininity through the lens of cinema.
Historically, film has portrayed women as damaged, deranged, or dangerous — particularly in sensationalist titles like Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, The Female Butcher, and Girls on the Loose. These narratives amplify stereotypes, shaping how femininity is constructed and consumed on screen.
Featuring wax pastel drawings, motorcycle jackets, studded gloves, and embellished helmets, Female Trouble unfolds as a fictional mise en scène: a punk, queer, and political Female Film Club storms the cinema, intent on reclaiming the screen. This imagined takeover disrupts traditional filmic tropes, asking viewers to reconsider who gets to tell the story — and how.
Female Trouble invites audiences into a cinematic universe where female identity takes centre stage, camp aesthetics reign supreme, and the stereotypical portrayal of women in film is radically upended.
Don’t miss the exhibition tour for Female Trouble on Sat 25 October from 2pm – 3pm. Free to attend, all welcome. Click here to register your attendance.
Pia de Bruyn was awarded the 2025 Bundoora Homestead Art Prize at the Midsumma and Australia Post Art Award.
Image: Pia de Bruyn, Female Trouble (detail) 2019-2025. Wax pastel on paper. Courtesy of the artist
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