FEMALE GAZE PROJECT

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

This is my contribution to THE FEMALE GAZE – A MOVIE POSTER PROJECT, a collaborative project featuring over 30 female artists from all over the world, celebrating women in cinema.

When the time comes to choose a female character from among the hundreds of thousands that have inspired us from a movie screen, I select Lisbeth Salander because she diverges from the stereotypes of the classic heroine.

As I understand it, a strong female character does not make her decisions in the face of adversity as a man would. Salander moves in a hostile world where her skills are key to her survival: she’s a fiercely brilliant hacker with a photographic memory, determined to bring abusers to justice, by any means necessary. Although part of what she does is to protect and defend herself, her involvement in Blomqvist’s investigation in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ultimately makes her a hero.

She ruthlessly attacks men who abuse women and unrelentingly takes vengeance against all who would seek to harm her and the people she cares about. But Salander is never impulsive: she’s ruthless in the cause of justice but rational in the pursuit of it. Her superpower emanates from her determination to explore her own limits and to fearlessly push them to achieve her goal. That’s why I think Lisbeth Salander is such an extraordinary female character.

Digitally painted and textured in PS using a Wacom Intuous pro.