This wood carving was part of a Tudor roof truss, now in storage in Ipswich Museum apparently. so much hidden in storage in museums, rotate rotate!
I presume this woman is in the ducking stool…..such strong emotions expressed, such powerful carving.
I am signed up to do a pop up exhibition at ArtSkool {whoops, forgot “never volunteer”} theme to be shared with jenny butcher. We are working on the restrictions of expectations, mine as they seek to control women culturally and jenny the individual hidden emotional bounds of being adopted.
I wish I wasn’t so old and a bit ill, I would like to project this photo on the wall…..obviously by writing this down I am trying to force myself into technological action……In my head I imagine a Maypole in the middle of the room with textile strips linking to various sketches of bound women on the wall. {it is a drawing based challenge]
I have 2 x 50 metre tapes which I may stitch with the text of expectations of the roles/actions/ of women, remembering not to stick to Western women only…….but that will take time, hopefully be completed for my Final Fine Arts degree exhibition next year.
Sharing my thoughts this week on my theme of Women being Bound by Cultural Preconceptions I have received a lot of encouragement, which in a way I found surprising as the work is not particularly attractive even in these days of post feminism it still seems to strike a chord.
One suggestion was that I should also work with the idea of women breaking Free from these bonds, which chimes with my thoughts not to idealise victim hood.
There is an opportunity to take part in a pop up exhibition at ArtSkool, so I hope to get the opportunity to construct a large figure, MAYPOLE? linked to sketches of bound women on the wall [the brief is drawing based}. Just thought of Michaelangelo’s figure escaping from the marble. That is male, who also have to escape their cultural bonds, but my experience is of women so I hope my work will be authentic rather than sloganising……
Exploring the strength of women v vulnerability. I have difficulty expressing the Energy of power, I am trying to use more straight lines rather than curved Moving away from reality to express reality Francis Bacon
Women with whom I have discussed my recent work have preferred the fat and happy pictures much more than the thin and angry, fat and threatening etc. I feel I should consider this, as I don’t want to reinforce the “victim” despairing female stereotype. But at the same time women have been culturally persuaded to expect the positive/pretty/acceptable self-image.
One of my ambitions is to express the strength of the female of the species, break out of the trap of feminisation.
I explored some of this in my dissertation. I looked at the hand stitched texts of Agnes Richter, Lorina Bulwer, Elizabeth Parker contrasted and compared to the blankets of Tracey Emin. My theme was how trauma could be the catalyst of innovative stitching, i.e. used but subverted the skills taught to women in making a sampler; largely to increase their marriageability. Perhaps noteworthy that none of these women married.
These sculptures by Xu Hongfei exhibited in Florence recently, inevitably make the viewer smile. Maybe women see them as carefree….but powerful. Matriarchal? as unthreatening, [unless one of the women sat on them], but in today’s culture the fat would be seen as unwholesome, unhealthy, self indulgent, unlike previous centuries where a well fed person was to be envied. A fat wife was a trophy to show how wealthy was her owner……life is complicated, subtlety is not my strong point but I aim for it.
Judith Scott was an American artist [1943 – 2005). She was a deaf mute with Downs syndrome who became known for her creativity which was expressed in wrapped figures and forms.
I find her wrapped forms so expressive , tightly encased, trapped and yet bright and colourful. I envisage an army of wrapped female forms, each encased in the binds of expectations, consumerism, gender roles, all the cultural traditions that circle round and round. The expectations of feminism of the 70s reduced to pink princesses and side boobs. Low pay and temporary employment.
