Artist Statement

WOMEN’S ISSUES: Beauty or Bondage?

Throughout history as well as in today’s culture, perceived physical beauty, sexual exploitation, and emotional as well as financial dependency on men have combined to insure that the female gender lacks the power of their male counterparts.  This series of work speaks to this issue.

As a feminist from the Betty Freidan / Gloria Steinem era, I am passionate about equality for women and the status of women and girls throughout the world.  I first envisioned doing this work when I heard a news commentator refer to the present as “post-feminist”. What???? I was incensed—obviously this current younger generation did not fully comprehend how hard we worked or how far we still have to go to achieve parity with men.  Speaking with women in their 30’s and 40’s who felt that this term was an apt designation, I am even more hopeful that this work will increase awareness of the important work that still needs to be done. Chinese foot binding was practiced through the 1950’s (even tho’ illegal), and there are crippled women alive today; placing rings around female children’s necks is still being practiced today in the Karen tribes of Burma/Thailand, the Masai women still face female castration, and few people are unaware of the fashion industry’s influence on young female’s interpretation of beauty.

Before the Renaissance, women’s “art” had parity with men’s in the art guilds of Europe.  With the Church’s influence, however, most of their work was designated as “craft” and removed from the category of “fine art”. Since I personally disagree with this categorizing, I deliberately use what is viewed as women’s crafts or “decorative” in my paintings—I iron hand-made paper; I use knitting, weaving, sewing, beads, and mixed media (including paste paper that is made with flour), and delight in the entire process of making my art. I believe that the “feminine” is naturally attracted to beauty and I lament (what I view as) the absence of it in “serious” art over the last half century; hence, even though I have a serious message, I like to incorporate “pretty”, and deliberately break some rules that I was taught in university classes.  For me art has “NO RULES”.  +