EDUCATOR, mother and artist Naomie Hatherley started photographing local women's footy games in Broome in 2016 when her daughter signed up to play.

"I was taken by the team spirit and how quickly my daughter felt a part of it.," Hatherley reflects.

This spirit inspired Hatherley to get creative.

"I couldn't play footy to save myself, so I'm playing footy vicariously through art - the only way I know how to get amongst the action," she said.

Hatherley paints players from match photography onto discarded metal scoreboard numbers. The plates are then arranged to reference dates and statistics celebrating the history of Western Australian women's football.

Artwork featuring players, a scoreboard and plates from the GNWFL. Picture: Supplied

The small tin score plates once used to score regional matches represent the female players as ghosts inside the numbers, once lost to footy folklore.

Outside the numbers, however, their bodies are united in monochromatic colour – no longer passive observers, but now active participants to be seen and counted. 

Hatherley's impressive work resulted in the first showing of her Keeping Score exhibition in July 2021, which featured women from the West Kimberley Football League.

In a homage to the women's game, Keeping Score celebrates the female form as an active subject of strength, stamina, endurance and physicality.  A definite counterpoint to the historically conventional objectified feminine form as a passive, soft receptacle of desire.

Detail showing oil paint on the surface of old score plates once used to score decades of men’s games (now including women) of Geraldton in the GNWFL. Picture: Supplied

Increasing the visibility of women athletes in art has been a key driving force in the talented artist's approach to her work.

Since 2016, and in the shadow of the pandemic, Hatherley has been working hard to further develop her body of work by completing two Fremantle Arts Centre (FAC) residencies.

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Hatherley used her time at FAC to research the women's game in Western Australia by talking to die-hard fans, players, coaches and other instrumental insiders in an attempt to characterise the unique culture of the women's game and collect inspiration for further artwork development.

"Being able to travel in 2020 was such a privilege. So was being able to talk to and photograph the East Fremantle Sharks who played in the first rounds of WAFLW games in Perth following lockdown in July," recalls Hatherley.

Artwork featuring players, scoreboard and plates from the GNWFL. Picture: Supplied

"I was also able to establish many contacts that I followed up on for my second residency in November which was brilliant."

Keeping Score is set to feature again next month with even more of her artwork. The latest iteration of this compelling exhibition features players from the West Kimberley, Perth and Geraldton regions between 2016 and 2021.

Photographic works that capture the spirit of the Great Northern Women's Football League (GNWFL) by Barry Mitchell and his team from Snapaction Sports along with AFL Footy Focus photographer Tamati Smith will also be included in the exhibition.

A work inspired by a photograph taken by Tamati Smith. Picture: Supplied

Keeping Score will also feature an interactive scoreboard, where visitors can request their own ‘score' using painted number plates sourced from a Geraldton football club and featuring the women of the GNWFL.

It is a true celebration of women's footy.

"With so much depressing chaos and confusion in the world right now, the magic of the women's game shines like a beacon of joy," Hatherley said.

"It is such a positive story of the power of community and inclusion."

Naomie Hatherley's exhibition is free of charge and will be open to the public at The Moores Building Contemporary Art Gallery in Fremantle from March 5, 2022, 10am-4pm.

WEBSITE: https://www.naomiehatherley.com
INSTAGRAM: @n0meshath