OH BABY GET TO IT!

steel, concrete, varnish, glass, bronze, fabric, stuffing, embroidery thread, 2019

This work speaks to the traditional values instilled in females. Although I am lucky enough to be a woman in Australia who has the freedom to study, freedom of speech, (almost) equal pay and rights, I still was raised with traditional domestic values. I was raised to believe the importance of service and to show care and respect; cooking, cleaning, mending. The domestic. However, this piece is about my self-realisation. I can still value these things but I can also develop my own values that aren’t derived from the domestic. The elements within this series represent my childhood perceptions of the domestic and what (I thought) was expected of me. The bronze element of the breasts however, represents the strong female figure. One which is above the ‘expectations’ of the female.

Table

Table is solidifying the notion of the domestic yet challenging the boundaries that for so long have been placed on women. Existing much like a mundane side table one would find in any home, the work is highlighting domesticity. The perfect recess which holds a glass bottle expresses the women as a ‘perfect fit’ in the home. Where, until recently, she has been expected to be. However, the construction of the table’s elements from typically industrial mediums fights these expectations. Concrete and steel are associated with strength and endurance. A strong woman, no longer bound to societal confines.

Breast

The woman. Women. Unafraid. Unrestrained. The feminine. The feminist. The matriarch. The unbound.

The artist and female are physically inserted into the work. A presence suspended, overlooking, overpowering. This element is the liberated female. One which is now above the domestic, above expectation, against societal confines. Liberated. Having met so many great women in my life so far, I want this work to represent the possibilities for each of these individuals. To strive, to dream, to reach, to rise. I want this work to also be a statement. An outcry. All of the great women who, because of expectation, because of inferiority, have not risen.

Female. Strength. Liberation. Forward.

Bottles

One glass. One concrete. One delicate. One sturdy.
These bottles are an object and a shadow. Roles reversible. The glass is delicately crafted, beautiful yet fragile. The glass is fragile, yet delicately crafted and beautiful. The bottle is sturdy, strong, the same object perceived differently.

One woman, two perceived appearances. Strong, fragile. I wanted to take something delicate, feminine, domestic and show that the same object can be strong, sturdy and unbreakable. This is how women are and aren’t perceived. The bottle is representative of previous perceptions and future perceptions. What hasn’t been but what can be.

Oh Baby! Get to it!

The cushion was constructed using traditional methods of craft. Sewing. Embroidery. This soft element of the work, placed under the breasts. The female. Employing the crafts that women have found themselves restricted to or expected to undertake, makes a comment on the voice who has commanded the female for so long. The words “Oh Baby! Get to it! " are making a comment on the masculine voice, the male gaze, the overwhelmingly masculine control that has and still does grasp our society. The method of construction, the materials and the placement of the work underneath a powerful feminine element are all making a comment on the progress women have made and will continue to make. No longer so heavily under the political and social dominance of men. Their words will soon be beneath us completely.

The female, autonomous in her choice, autonomous in her body, autonomous in her voice, autonomous in her future.