Concept
This Project has been the most personal project I have ever worked on as it draws from my own and my friends' real experiences. I want to explore what it means to be a woman, in touch with femininity and feminism, and also reflect the reality of womanhood that every woman knows but we refrain from talking about.
There is a harsh duality in womanhood that no one teaches you about. There is so much beauty, life, and vibrancy that is contrasted by pain, fear, and shame. It is time someone pointed the camera at the reality of our lives. Miscarriage, Assault, Body Shaming, Pregnancy, fear, oppression, misogyny.
My aim is to create a collection that reflects on the traditional ideas of femininity and subvert their meaning to reflect the reality we face. I want the collection to reflect on these experiences in a subtle way but to also celebrate the beauty every woman holds.
This is a statement of resistance, empowerment, and change.
gaining visual research for such an intangible subject matter meant I spent a lot of time researching artists and activists to explore how they visualized their experiences through artistic mediums and type. I wanted to mix this with more traditional visuals of femininity and natural beauty. I explored florals, lace, skin, blood, cursive writing, and other ideas for visual stimuli.
Louise Bourgois created hauntingly beautiful art that reflected her life and experiences as a woman. Her art was renowned for its controversial depictions of womanhood when it was still a very conservative time in art. The raw energy of her watercolors depicts emotion and feeling that is often hard to capture.
Research Area: Experiences
Research Area: Identity/ vulnerability
I looked into ideas of vulnerability, i find it really interesting that nudity and showing skin is associated with being vulnerable, but women showing their bodies is still a taboo. The fact that 90% of paintings and sculptures of women in galleries are in the nude creates another double standard for women.
FINAL LINE UP
