     
I drew Andromeda, cut her from paper, carved each link in her chains with blades and gilded them with paint. I set her swinging across a canvas and framed with her paper chains. Her resistance is her beauty, unrelenting and powerful, unapologetic and eternal. 2. Fireproof Hearts- Powerful women are often cast as witches, and succinctly punished and persecuted in the tradition of repression. The term “Witch,” comes from wicce, a term for a wise person and healer. Cunning women, solitary women who are able to care for themselves, have often been seen as a threat to patriarchal society, and the term used in a double edged insult and accusation. Witches were midwives, healers, visionaries, some witches were real witches and practiced their spirituality, and some were just bold women that were resistant. To resist in a time when society systemically suppresses independence and strength in women is an act of bravery. I created this piece to celebrate resistant women. Our fireproof hearts, our beautiful and indomitable spirits, our defiance is all a beautiful display of resistance in a culture and society that fears and methodically subjugates women. 3. Queen of Cups- In tarot, the Queen of Cups is a figure that reveres all aspects of creation, loves and embraces everyone and is moved by the tragedies and beauties of life. She is a symbol of nurturing love, compassion and creation. I created this piece out of fascination and awe for the multitudes and complexities women contain and deal with. Not all women are mothers, nor are they vessels for creation. Women are often painted with the broad brush of softness, sexuality, and patient nurturing characteristics. I am drawn to the tropes women are trapped in, and the reaction from society when they do not fit into the stereotypes dealt. In this piece, the Queen of Cups fills up the frame impressively in her stature, her scale formidable and unapologetic. She delights in her own abundance, which she creates for herself. The pitcher pours into an overflowing cup: plenitude created by and for herself. I created this piece from a digital drawing I cut into a large vinyl stencil and painted with many hues of metallic golds. The model is based on Princess Marie Georgine- who modeled famously for Bouguereau’sBirth of Venus. I have a deep interest in rescuing women from the male gaze of art history and giving them their own celebration in my work. They are celebrated for their independence and power, their ability to be both strong and soft, indomitable and vulnerable, for the overflowing cup of their individuality. 4. Catcall- In 2014 a resistant woman, Shoshana Roberts, created a video with Rob Bliss called “10 hours of Walking in NYC as a Woman,” which went viral. It was the kind of thing I wished I had seen when I was younger. From middle school on cat calling was a burden I experienced regularly, and was one of many unspoken things I felt resigned to accept as a girl burgeoning into a woman. There seemed no safe nor effective rebuttal that didn’t illicit more anger from the entitled men who told me to smile or worse. Growing up there wasn’t much of public discourse on it either. That video was a light for me, that women can resist the resignation of our fate to be victimized methodically, systematically within a patriarchy. Artists have an opportunity to hold the mirror up to society, to create work that exposes both the wild injustices and the insidious micro aggressions women face. I created this piece in honor of my experiences, which are also shared collective experiences. To show a strong female figure flanked by predatory big cats completely alone in the wild. 5. Goddess In Me- “Yeah I got boy problems, that’s the human in me/ Bling Bling, then I solve ‘em, that’s the Goddess in me.” - Lizzo, “Truth Hurts.” Lizzo’s song lyrics inspired the title for this piece, which celebrates the inner Goddess in every woman- a force of strength and resistance which has carried us through millennia of cultural, religious, and economic suppression. I drew and cut the paper shapes that rest on the tone-on-tone pink canvas. Painted foliage frames the central figure: the outline of a self-possessed woman layered over an inner goddess with outstretched arms. Resistance is the refusal to comply with something. Every act of self love and empowerment for women is an act of resistance. In a world where women are supposed to be beautiful and meek, but not know they are beautiful and always be humble or be punished- every single act of self possession and self love is a healing gesture to the millennia of insidious and pervasive abuse women have suffered.
0 Comments
|
Erin KuhnStay updated with some of my latest images, whether they're from photo shoots or unfinished art projects! Categories
All
|
RSS Feed
