UCL celebrates exceptional women with ’Female Firsts’ art project

Britain's first female doctor, the first female President of the Royal College of Surgeons and the first black woman to play for England Women's cricket team are among 12 exceptional women to be celebrated in a new UCL art project called 'Female Firsts'. Launching to honour International Women's Day, the exhibition forms part of UCL's year-long celebrations marking the 100th anniversary of women receiving the right to vote. UCL Artist-in-Residence, Kristina Clackson Bonnington, has been commissioned to create 12 contemporary art works about these extraordinary women, who all have a UCL connection, using a lab-based technique which combines chemicals with ink to burn images onto surfaces. Clackson Bonnington's practice reveals how power is encoded in buildings and environments, particularly with reference to the history of social inequalities. She will depict the women at selected doorways to emphasise the avenues they have opened in their lives and work. Clackson Bonnington said: "It is an enormous privilege to be working on 'Female Firsts'. The stories of these 12  women, who were all individually pioneering and progressive in their fields makes it easier to appreciate the struggle and progress that has been made towards achieving gender equality.