Thursday 5 June 2008

Lady in blue


I look at her lady in blue and wonder…

What defines a woman in 2008?- Beauty?-Propriety? Femininity? Independence?

Does gender define women in their femininity as sensual?

Have women really broken free through feminism in 2008? Equal career opportunities, freed from cultural expectations, to ware those skimpy miniskirts in broad daylight…for the fun of it, because they can?
…think: are those women depicted in sex and the city nothing more than rebels from stigmas that will for ever define women in one way or another. They are after all, only searching for something as class-climbing, or love-searching, family-searching and career –searching women through out the narrative.
How, in 2008 does ‘she’ become disgraced?

‘She’ looks misunderstood and probably, misunderstands herself. As do men probably in a world in which gender roles loose defining boundaries what is left for us to mark identity? Why should these two-way markers be cancelled in the first palce though, as these are inevitable logistics that make our world possible.

To cancel, deny and use hostage a marker leads only to the downgrading of markers, be it racism, classism or sexism.

Search to understand, express and look beyond.

Who is the Lady in blue...
The object, victim, or culprit?
Or only a woman within…looking out of a life-lasting shell, the birthmark of a sensual object, a sensual culprit…

In the words of Vanessa on what she searches through her work:
"In seeking to further my understanding of the visual culture, I do not wish to reproduce beauty or ornament.

Instead, I mean to experiment with values, already existing in every day to day objects surrounding us- imagery, senses and sounds, giving another chance to judge and perceive these through new perspectives.

Setting the right context means alienating the object from its prison of traditions, and stereotypical preconceptions, these take on new meaning and identity.

Over the past three years my processional development has embarked a path led by intertwining conceptual and contemporary ideas.

Technique and hand craft are shadowed in terms of importance and no attempt is made of capturing the literal reality in which we are conscious viewers.

I wish to experiment with the context in which realities are found."

…grazie Vess, I try to put in words how your thoughts’ forms have inspired my perceptions…

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Your sister's works of art are stunning, and I wish good luck to the both of you. Have a good time in Italy and hope to see you sometime soon.

I'm currently at home in Oxford having a nice rest.