Devoured

DEVOURED: 1999
A further development of the themes voiced in Dominum, with a stronger emphasis on the use of found objects and readymades, and methods of traditional women’s handwork such as knitting, braiding, and using pins or wires as fasteners. Two key components of my practice over the last twenty years have been the use of mass-produced consumer items, and the methods of handiwork traditionally part of women’s domain. In my body of works Devoured, these materials and means have been brought together to construct a subjective analysis of the patriarchal oppression inherent in organized religion. The social and ideological factors that shaped my life such as the imposition of roles of service upon women, the denial of sexuality and the threats of temptation and transgression inherent in church doctrine, inform the works of this series. Much of the impetus for my work stems from a response to the disposable items of contemporary culture. Produced to be consumed and discarded, they exude a kitschiness that I find both attractive and repellent. It is the pejorative nature of these items, in complete opposition to the theatrical and iconic aspects of European religious art or the grand traditions of Western art in which I was raised, that makes them especially suited to my present work. Prefabricated armatures and supports form the basis of some of the works such as Credo, 1999 and Thy Will Be Done, 1999, on which plastic netting or aluminum screening is draped. Hundreds of small items of metal and plastic have been fastened to the mesh in an obsessive mimicry of domestic ritual. Table supports are used in the freestanding pieces Drank my Blood, 1999 and Ritual, 1999, as a point of organization and evocation of the sacred altar. Their surfaces hold articles related to the daily routines of setting the table, and dissecting and consuming food; the implication is a devouring by patriarchy of the female core of being. The sublimation of sexuality as demanded by church doctrine is examined in several works that make use of preserving jars. Presented on shelves or tables, these jars have been filled with spiders, insects or doll parts, implying a repression of natural instincts and dark parts of the psyche that have been preserved for later consumption. Allusions to the sacred and profane are made in Trilogy II, 1999, by combining symbols of female sexuality (garters) and service (dressmaker’s pins), with a fabricated wire “crown of thorns”. Patterning is integral to the works and is often achieved through simple handworking methods - tying, wrapping and braiding of industrial materials like wire. In an accompanying series of works on paper, pen and ink is used to evoke the intricacy of wire and similarly suggest a controlled or sublimated sexuality. Transforming and reclaiming items from the immediate culture is a means to reclaiming of self and traversing the boundaries imposed by the church and patriarchy. This process is ongoing in my work as I continue to examine the ways in which cultural and gender identity are constructed.

DEVOURED: 1999

A further development of the themes voiced in Dominum, with a stronger emphasis on the use of found objects and readymades, and methods of traditional women’s handwork such as knitting, braiding, and using pins or wires as fasteners.

Two key components of my practice over the last twenty years have been the use of mass-produced consumer items, and the methods of handiwork traditionally part of women’s domain. In my body of works Devoured, these materials and means have been brought together to construct a subjective analysis of the patriarchal oppression inherent in organized religion. The social and ideological factors that shaped my life such as the imposition of roles of service upon women, the denial of sexuality and the threats of temptation and transgression inherent in church doctrine, inform the works of this series.

Much of the impetus for my work stems from a response to the disposable items of contemporary culture. Produced to be consumed and discarded, they exude a kitschiness that I find both attractive and repellent. It is the pejorative nature of these items, in complete opposition to the theatrical and iconic aspects of European religious art or the grand traditions of Western art in which I was raised, that makes them especially suited to my present work. Prefabricated armatures and supports form the basis of some of the works such as Credo, 1999 and Thy Will Be Done, 1999, on which plastic netting or aluminum screening is draped. Hundreds of small items of metal and plastic have been fastened to the mesh in an obsessive mimicry of domestic ritual. Table supports are used in the freestanding pieces Drank my Blood, 1999 and Ritual, 1999, as a point of organization and evocation of the sacred altar. Their surfaces hold articles related to the daily routines of setting the table, and dissecting and consuming food; the implication is a devouring by patriarchy of the female core of being. The sublimation of sexuality as demanded by church doctrine is examined in several works that make use of preserving jars. Presented on shelves or tables, these jars have been filled with spiders, insects or doll parts, implying a repression of natural instincts and dark parts of the psyche that have been preserved for later consumption.

Allusions to the sacred and profane are made in Trilogy II, 1999, by combining symbols of female sexuality (garters) and service (dressmaker’s pins), with a fabricated wire “crown of thorns”. Patterning is integral to the works and is often achieved through simple handworking methods - tying, wrapping and braiding of industrial materials like wire. In an accompanying series of works on paper, pen and ink is used to evoke the intricacy of wire and similarly suggest a controlled or sublimated sexuality.

Transforming and reclaiming items from the immediate culture is a means to reclaiming of self and traversing the boundaries imposed by the church and patriarchy. This process is ongoing in my work as I continue to examine the ways in which cultural and gender identity are constructed.