Relm - The Great Escape

The Great Escape is the debut book from Canadian artist, Relm. Uninhibited, romantic, sexy, and perplexing, Relm, places us in a dream-like and sometimes nightmarish world, where there are no limits. Central to Relms work is the power to subvert, or create context, through pencil and painting, inviting us to think beyond the naked body. Inspired by her Balkan/Bosnian background, as well as several years in Germany, and travels through Europe, as a young teen, Relms work also draws from her passion for surrealism and art history, inspired by artists such as Vigee Le Brun and Jean Honore Fragonard. Fantasy is explored in Relms work; as a genre, fantasy tends to circle mortality, desire, and power, often used in religious and historical painting, from a male gaze. With the books title The Great Escape, the artist takes us on a journey. Throughout the book, in several of Relms paintings, the female subjects appear doll-like, sometimes depicted as monsters, or eaten by insects. In other, more ethereal works, the female subjects revel in their ability to achieve their own big O, lesbian romances and love-making are celebrated and the female body is supreme; the women in these works are unafraid of their sexual power. Relm invites us to question traditional power structures in this dichotomy of works. Appropriation is a reoccurring practice in Relms body of work - the artist re-paints classical oil paintings of female nudes, by male artists, inviting us to look at them through a different lens.