The latest bitesize class on Monday was about the male and female gaze and how oil painters paint nude women. We watched an episode of Ways of Seeing and discussed various subjects. Questions are raised especially “How can you portray a naked body without sexualising it?”
To be honest, It’s pretty hard. To put it very roughly (and it may sound a bit distasteful) one of our main functions as human beings is to breed after all. A naked body of a grown person with healthy and attractive features is inevitably sexual. The real problem is women in paintings are shown as only just that : sexual.
Thinking about this gives me a headache. I’m here for equality but as a woman myself, I feel like making work about woman and female-related subjects is not entirely my thing. I’m actually bored of all the “feminist” art lately at least the weirdly forced PC ones. Feminism doesn’t need to be group exhibitions of female artists painting vaginas and wearing pink because “girl power” but who am I to say this…
So as our assignment is to do a photo essay that is related to the class I decided to create a set of comic-like panels depicted the menstruation of women as a form of ritual. Bleeding every month and being in pain most of the time just to get ready for being pregnant can sound menacing sometimes, almost cult-like. Images are taken from Rodin’s sculptures, Richard Avedon’s photographs, documents of performance art and a few drawings that I did.
td @ ual 