Explore every episode of the podcast Art World Women

Welcome to the Art World Women Podcast! 🎨👑💫

I’m Zoë Goetzmann (@byzoesera), an arts writer and curator based in📌 London 🇬🇧, and the host of the Art World Women podcast.

This show is dedicated to conversations with women, female-identifying, and non-binary artists, art professionals, and cultural leaders who are shaping the art world today. Together, we’ll celebrate their stories, amplify their voices, and explore how they’re redefining art and culture.

✨ Stay tuned — new episodes are coming soon on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

🎙️ In this episode, I visited London-based artist Damaris Athene in her Woolwich studio, following her solo exhibition Undercurrents at SLQS Gallery.

🖼️ Her transdisciplinary practice spans painting, sculpture, and photography — exploring post-human ideas of the body, materiality, and the shifting boundaries between the physical and digital.

🧠 Informed by science, science fiction, and film, her work draws on references from Stranger Things and The Last of Us, alongside cinematic influences from Alfred Hitchcock to Darren Aronofsky, as well as the speculative and feminist writing of Octavia Butler — imagining "new possibilities" while confronting structures of "injustice", Athene says in our podcast chat.

🌱 We discuss her experiences working as a woman artist today; her practice across art, science, organic forms and technology; her involvement in the GIRLPOWER Residency in the South of France led by Marcelle Joseph and Kimberly Morris; and the need for greater transparency in the art world.

🔬 The conversation also explores new developments in her work — including the “Wood Wide Web" 🍄, an underground network of fungi and tree roots through which plants communicate and share resources — reflected in her root-like ceiling installation in Undercurrents at SLQS Gallery.

🚿 Her new body of work, import_copy, plays on the material and conceptual language of nature utilising sheer chiffon curtains — exploring ideas of permeability, visibility, and the boundary between private and public space.

✨ Damaris Athene is a London-based artist and graduate of the Royal College of Art and City & Guilds of London Art School. She has exhibited internationally through D Contemporary, Guts Gallery Project Space, Unveiling Abstractions (Hypha HQ - co-curated by myself & Melissa Vipritskaya Topal in 2024), Saatchi Gallery (the Robert Walters UK New Artist of the Year Award), MEGA Art Fair and Women in Art Fair in London as well as miart Art Fair in Milan with Bo Lee Gallery.

🎤 Hosted by Zoë Goetzmann (@byzoesera)

👉 Make sure to follow Damaris' work:

Instagram

Website

🔗 Resources

• Reference: Octavia Butler 📚

📢 As this episode was recorded live, please turn the volume up for a better listening experience 👏

🎙️ Recorded live at Hypha x Eastern City Studios (130 Fenchurch Street, London — on view until 16th May), this minisode features a women artists roundtable produced alongside (UN)SEEN — the inaugural exhibition at the space, showcasing 21 artists working and creating across the city.

🖼️ Curated by Art World Women host Zoë Goetzmann, (UN)SEEN explores the seen and unseen forces within contemporary artistic practice across painting, sculpture, design, and installation — moving beyond visibility to consider how artistic labour transcends disciplines, genres, and gender.

👥 Titled “(UN)SEEN Labour, Visual Art,” the roundtable is moderated by editorial stylist Megan McClelland and features artists Abbie Griffiths (@abbiegriffiths__), Anna Kolosova (@annakolosova), Ekaterina Adelskaya (@adelskaya_kate), Epona (a design brand established by Rhiannon Davies) (@epona______ ), and Ewelina Skowronska (@ewelello

🧠 The conversation draws on Arlie Russell Hochschild’s feminist concept of emotional labour exploring the invisible emotional and unseen labour within artistic practice — from materiality and inspiration to creative burnout and perceptions of being a woman artist today.

💭 It also reflects on visual culture, attention, and perception within a saturated image economy.

✨ (UN)SEEN also includes works by Claudia Pang, Cas Campbell, Emily Hana, Elena Unger, Elina Yumasheva, Hannah Kline, Hannah Shillito, Karolina Dworska, Lucie Davis, Olivia Foster and Taya De La Cruz, with reference to queer artist Adrian Coto within the discussion. 

🎤 Hosted by AWW host Zoë Goetzmann (@byzoesera)

🗣️ Also check out Megan McClelland's socials too (@meg_mcclelland)

References:

Arlie Russell Hochschild, The Managed Heart

Marine Tanguy (CEO, MTArt Agency), The Visual Detox 

Welcome to "Art World Women" — a podcast dedicated to amplifying the voices and careers of women creatives and artists in today's art world. 🎨

🎤 I'm your host, Zoë Goetzmann (@byzoesera), and for our very first episode I sat down with Sarah Le Quang Sang (@sarahlqs) — Founder and Director of SLQS Gallery (@slqsgallery) — at her space on Club Row in East London, where this conversation took place. 

👤 SLQS Gallery is a contemporary art gallery committed to platforming women and queer artists across generations. Built around an inclusive and intentional ethos, the gallery actively pushes back on the art world's rigid labels — "emerging", "mid-career" — labels that so often fail artists working outside conventional timelines or balancing caregiving alongside their practice. Founded during International Women's Month, SLQS has been featured in The Art Newspaper and has participated in international art fairs including Minor Attractions and Women in Art Fair. 

💫 In this episode, we cover so much ground — Sarah's journey through the art, business and performance worlds; what drives her vision for SLQS Gallery; her recent exhibition with London artist "The Trung Sisters" Hoa Dung Clerget; and the gallery's current show "Au fil du temps" — bringing together the work of Damaris Athene, Lexia Hachtmann and Bethany Stead.

💡One of my favourite moments of the whole conversation? The idea of women's soft power 💜 — when it comes to creating and collecting art — and how women are stepping into their identities as empowered collectors in a very exciting way. This felt like such an important and timely conversation, and I can't wait for you to hear it.

🎥 Full video interview coming soon.

Follow SLQS Gallery: @slqsgallery

Website

"Au fil du temps" is on view at SLQS Gallery, 20 Club Row, Shoreditch, East London, until 11 April 2026.

In this episode, I sat (actually stood — for YouTube viewers!) and spoke with internationally exhibiting sculptor, educator, and arts leader Isabel H. Langtry (@isabelhlangtry), Principal of Hampstead School of Art.

📢 (FOR headphone listeners: as this is interview was recorded live in Isabel’s studio - please feel free to increase volume)

🗿 Born in Lagos, Nigeria, Isabel received her MA in pure sculpture from St. Martin's School of Art. Alongside her own sculptural practice, she has exhibited at Whitechapel Gallery and undertaken public commissions across the United Kingdom, China, Saudi Arabia, Chile, Spain, and Slovenia. 

🎨 POP was installed in Berkeley Square, Mayfair. Isabel is also the founder of the London Sculpture Prize and serves as a judge for the Women in Art Prize (@women_in_art_) and The Medical Arts Society and Sculpture in the Vineyards Biennale Australia. 

💬 Together, we discuss arts education, public sculpture, supporting artists throughout every stage of their careers, women in the art world, arts funding in the UK, Abstract Expressionism, and why moving beyond the label of "women artists" to simply "artists" is an important step towards achieving greater equality in the art landscape 💯💪

✨ We also explore Hampstead School of Art's remarkable history, the role of artist patrons—including Sir Frank Bowling OBE RA — and why initiatives like the London Sculpture Prize and Women in Art Prize are creating meaningful opportunities for artists today.

👤 Applications for the 2026 London Sculpture Prize close on 23 August, so if you're a sculptor looking for your next opportunity, I highly encourage you to apply!

👓 Episode Timeline

00:00 – Introduction
02:18 – 🌱 Early Artistic Influences & Inspirations
06:58– 🎨 The Importance of Arts Education & Supporting Artists
08:33– 🗿 Inspiration Behind Public Sculpture & Isabel's Sculptural Practice
12:00 – ⚖️ Balancing Art & Administration
19:13 – 🏫 Leading Hampstead School of Art, its mission, patrons, student community & initiatives
25:43 – 👩‍🎨 Women in the Art World • 💷 Arts Funding in the UK • 🖌️ Abstract Expressionism
31:00 – 🏆 The London Sculpture Prize • 🌍 Creating Opportunities for Artists • 💡 Advice for Emerging Artists

👉 Follow Isabel below

Instagram: @isabelhlangtry

Website

🎤 Hosted by Zoë Goetzmann (@byzoesera)

📖 Resources:

• Hampstead School of Art:https://www.hampstead-school-of-art.org

• London Sculpture Prize: https://www.londonsculptureprize.com

• Women in Art Prize:https://womeninartprize.com

• The Medical Arts Society and Sculpture in the Vineyards Biennale Australia: https://themedicalartsociety.org/about

• Also check out (as mentioned in episode): “ The Language of Sculpture” - Willam Tucker 📚

In this episode, I sit down with London-based artist Anne von Freyburg (@annevonfreyburg), whose striking textile paintings blur the boundaries between painting, textiles, fashion, and materiality.

🎨 Anne's practice embraces the female gaze through both historical and contemporary lenses, reimagining Rococo imagery to explore femininity, beauty, identity, and the decorative through richly layered textiles and painterly expression.

💬 Anne holds an MFA degree from Goldsmiths University of London and a BA degree in Fashion Design at ArtEZ University of the Arts in the Netherlands. She’s exhibited internationally at Rademakers Gallery, Zonamaco art fair, and K Contemporary. Anne’s also been featured by Flux Magazine, Schön! Magazine, and Forbes. 

🌸 We discuss Anne's journey from fashion into contemporary art, why textiles deserve a place within the tradition of painting, and how flowers have been used as symbols throughout art history—from the Rococo period to Georgia O'Keeffe's modern interpretations.

🧵 We also explore the relationship between art and fashion, Zandra Rhodes' lasting influence on both industries, Anne's creative process, and how materiality itself becomes a language within her work.

✨ The conversation also reflects on Anne's recent exhibitions, including Textile Art Redefined (curated by Helen Adams) and Selfsame curated by me — the all-women exhibition exploring identity that I curated earlier this year at art'otel London Hoxton.

🎙 Hosted by Zoë Goetzmann (@byzoesera)

👉 Follow Anne below

Website: https://annevonfreyburg.com

Instagram: @annevonfreyburg

• Other resources: 

On Low vs. High Culture: Glenn Brown’s Lecture on the subversion of Rembrandt and Velázquez with sci-fi and pulp illustrations.

🎙️ In this episode, I visited London-based artist Lydia Smith (@lydiasmithartist) at Kindred Studios in West London to discuss her artistic practice and the work she is doing as co-founder of FÉ Collective.

🎟️ Purchase tickets for FÉ's Gala (June 12th) here

🌿 FÉ is a female-led collective inspired by Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own and dedicated to creating time, space, and opportunities for the next generation of women artists. Through exhibitions, events, lectures, and its Freshers programme, the collective aims to foster critical dialogue and support artists at pivotal stages of their creative careers.

🎨 We discuss Lydia's multidisciplinary practice, which spans sculpture, works on paper, and digital media, drawing on themes of ancient history, technology, science, and spirituality.

🌱 We also cover the importance of arts education when navigating the contemporary art world; CIC's ("Community Interest Company"; building meaningful communities and support systems for women artists; and finding a balance between order and chaos when managing creative careers.

🥀 The conversation also explores FÉ's upcoming Freshers Gala on 12 June. Conceived as an alternative to the traditional art world summer party circuit, the event celebrates the artists, assistants, photographers, technicians, and cultural workers who are often working behind the scenes. This year's theme, Dark Rococo, invites guests to embrace rich textures, deep tones, ornate details, and unapologetic theatricality while raising funds for FÉ's end-of-year exhibition.

✨ Lydia Smith is a London-based multidisciplinary artist whose work has been exhibited at Christie’s, the Saatchi Gallery, Bowman Sculpture, and throughout London's contemporary art scene. Her work has been featured in publications including The Telegraph, The Guardian, Mayfair Times, and L'Officiel.

🎤 Hosted by Zoë Goetzmann (@byzoesera)

👉 Follow Lydia Smith andFÉ Collective below

Lydia Smith Website: lydiasmith.gallery

FÉ Collective Website: fe-collective.net

🔍 Resources:

FÉ's The Drop-Off Exhibition: As cited from fe-collective.net:

"The exhibition opens a space to consider the chasm between art school and the art world; a space where there is a drastic drop-off of female artists".

"According to the Freelands Foundation’s 2020 report, 73% of creative postgraduates in 2019-2020 were women, [2] yet 68% of artists represented in major London commercial galleries are men.[3] This exhibition explores the factors behind this disparity and the challenges women face when entering the art world".