The Hand Unsteady is an exhibition of oil and watercolour paintings by Meg Stoios.

Completed between 2019 and 2023 under the duresses of the pandemic, successive lockdowns and ongoing economic crises, the series of works alludes to a doomed romantic relationship expressed through recurring, interacting figures.  

In crises, wounds forged by patriarchal ideals suddenly show in sharp relief.

An unsteady hand - gripping a scalpel, a paintbrush, a glass half full of water, poised and shaking is a gestural symbol for potential.     

Though the paintings are expressive, the drive is less about romantic ‘heartache’, and more about extrapolating the role of oppressive dialogues and structures of power within our own and others’ psyches. These manifest in our relationships as the cause of much darker, abject heartaches – the heartaches of the never-ending fight against misogyny and other intertwined forms of hatred, self-loathing and trauma.

Stoios draws from personal memories and real and imagined places to create fictional scenes using live models. Thank you to the models who contributed to the making of these works.  

The Regional Arts Development Fund is a partnership between the Queensland Government and the City of Gold Coast Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.

Assembly Point is managed by Creative Spaces, a program of the City of Melbourne.