Enigmatic Paintings Explore the Challenges for Women Fitting Into Today’s World

Figurative Oil Paintings of Women by Martine Johanna

Netherlands-based artist Martina Johanna uses her distinct, expressive style to explore women's roles in society. This series, titled How to Eliminate Stress and Anxiety through Good Housekeeping, places female characters in colorful, dreamlike worlds that have multiple realities trapped in the same space. In this way, she explores the public and private perceptions of women.

Each oil painting features at least one female character who appears to wrestle with her surrealist surroundings in some form. A lot of the inspiration for these pieces comes from Johanna's own childhood. “I grew up in an environment structured by traditional gender divides, rules, and roles,” she tells My Modern Met. “Cheap dime novels, TV programs, and fashion magazines, much like the screens and social media channels of today, provided an escape into an illusive and ethereal world filled with fairytale castles and savior princes.”

While some of these characters are depicted trying to flee from their environment, others look into the distance with desperation. The playful color palette appears to add a sense of wonder to these contemplative narratives. “The female protagonists in my work playfully exhibit the inner struggle between youthful naivety and adulthood to establish their own gender-driven identities and romantic inclinations while trying to fit into the world around them,” Johanna adds.

Johanna's exhibition How to Eliminate Stress and Anxiety through Good Housekeeping exhibition is on view at the Massey Klein Gallery in New York until May 20, 2023. You can purchase prints of her paintings through her online store.