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SI #6
Born into the world, people born as female are thrust into a world of patriarchy - they're self-worths defined by their ability to get a good husband. However, some people are lesbian - struggling to live in a world that revolves around men. Due to this, a lot of lesbians decide to suppress their sexuality, choosing to appease the people around them by marrying a man. I wanted to represent the effects of compulsory heterosexuality by drawing myself as a bride. In the background is a collage of magazine photos of straight couples, arranged alongside words such as “caregiver” to demonstrate traditional societal expectations of women. This is juxtaposed against my wedding dress - rendered in the colors of the lesbian flag. There’s a hand with a gun - shooting me as punishment for my sexuality. The hand represents society, and is shaded sharply in alcohol markers to represent the cruelty of societal expectations. However, I’m colored softly with oil pastels to emphasize the impact of the bullet.
Experimentation
Notes 1/8/24
What I'm trying to communicate:
I'm trying to communicate the loss of identity, particularly your sexual identity due to compulsory heterosexuality. This is common in gay women who are taught to prioritize men and to only love and revolve their lives around men - forcing them to suppress their love for women
Artist Research:
An artist I am inspired by is David Bird, because I love how his pieces show such effective and clear use of textures and a variety of colors. I love how you can tell each singular brush stroke and how messy his pieces feel, but somehow feel put together.
Materials Exploration:
I'm going to let myself enjoy doing my portfolio and do oil pastels - my favorite medium and the one I'm best at. However, I'm going to experiment a little more with creating more textures with oil pastels and for it to feel less blended in order to let the textures be seen.
Ideation:
I decided to go with me being a bride to a man despite being a lesbian. This was to represent how many lesbian women grow up being married to a man they don't even love due to being raised that this was the right thing to do. Many women are raised to believe that being a good wife to a man is the highest thing they can achieve in their life, and the best gift that they could ever ask for. Then I'm going to be shot, and the shooter is ambiguous in order to represent society. Blood in the colors of the lesbian pride flag is going to flow out of me and there is a wall with portraits of me and the man I'm forced to marry. However I'm going to be seen unhappy and faking happiness in all of the portraits to show how this wasn't a gift to me at all.
Technical exploration:
In David Bird's art, I think there was a lot of scratching at paint done in order to emphasize the textures, and I believe it is possible with oil pastels as well. My first piece was focused on blending the rich colors together but now I'm trying a different approach with the pastels. I'm going to scratch at the oil pastels to create intentional texture to show the messiness of murder.