The Don’t Rape series, and this MFA final project was a first a backdrop to another project based on ideological adult mobiles. In the end, it was the doodles that were co-currently being drawn at night, as my mind stretched to imagine an installation that was made of steel and carried within its rotating carcasses a threshold of beauty, veiling darker truths of women’s lives. I make this point to clarify that this process differed significantly from my first impressions of how one might go about making art. That play and risk are essential partners in my process. It is the fluidity and cross-contamination that informed both these projects. While one felt naïve, private, and unbalanced, the other felt so formed and sophisticated. Swerving back and forth between the two in their conception revealed that both projects have the same DNA that I wanted to enter a conversation with my art. What is written in the margins of a larger project may end up being what you were seeking?
Both these works show a tepidity that the viewer may not see. Interpersonal work of how to enter wider conversations, was also at the intersection of this work, alongside themes of beauty and identity. Thematically, I was thrust internally between arcs of feminist thought and the allurement of design and pattern. It was there in that mix that I began to hide my point of view. I knew I could not render the unspeakable shameful issues I want to talk about without the love or cover of something charming, colorful, and or patterned. Decorative arts, pattern, and folk dolls visually represent the domestic sphere, the ruse to incite a more in-depth consideration of meaning concerning my own identic surroundings. As the varied tensions evolved, the gravity of the themes and my inner eye seemed to produce a way for me to express a shameless rage about the inequities around women and their bodies. The Don’t Rape series initially was both embarrassing, with messages hidden, and then it became an alarmingly accurate rendering of the unspeakable.
Playing and wanting to grow my expertise, both projects were based on a new craft. The first welding, which became too large of an obstacle for the success of the MFA final project, and digital media, where the secret drawings are now a centerpiece. The skills and changing sightlines all created a more confident artist identity. With this series, I have entered the conversation with an aesthetic strategy to address the plurality and perspectives of how artists are addressing the violence and conflict that is inherent to women's identities.
The lineage of the art I make is rooted in the feminist art movement, most notably born from Judy Chicago and Miriam Schapiro, among others. These women represent a few of the many women in this field at the time, both famous and unknown. There are many new emerging and established artists that are addressing rape in their work. In film Naima Ramos Chapman in her short "And Nothing Happened," in performance art, Sarah Maples "Anti-Rape Cloak" and more closely related to my work is Hana Shafi or Frizz Kid who creates illustrations around the body politics, feminism, and racism. This is a vast academic field of artists that have come before me. The Don't Rape series is continuously requiring more research as questions emerge around representation, folk art, and dolls.
Production for the MFA Don’t Rape series is not concluded. As a challenge to grow the work, both literally and figuratively, four images of digital work have been rendered in paint. The pieces are done in acrylic and measure 3’x 4’ on balsa board 2” thick panels. This has echoes of an initial early comment I made in the MFA program, "making the work bigger than I am." It also introduced a master class in color mixing and painting techniques. Keeping the look of the digital images was a process. Due to what I feel is a success, four of them are not enough, so I am committing to 3 more in the coming months. In terms of ambition, the 3 new panels are, in part, to have a more massive show. I would really like to see this happen alongside the sales of originals and print production, with a new series to follow. I envision an online community and an active, lively artist community. I am endowed with confidence from the feedback I have received in the program and all the hard work I have put in.