ALTOLOGY 2024 - series - The Unbecoming
ALTOLOGY was a group exhibition composed of collections or series set side by side in one space by artists Daria Betley, Terrence A Doran, Ian Kemp, Gordon Monro, Peter Rechenberg, Takahiko Sugawara, Tiffany Titshall, and Amanda Western. Curated by Linda Franklin.
My series title 'The Unbecoming' was prompted by observing how the word unbecoming has been used to impose shame on women. I wanted to subvert the term by inserting 'The' before the word to add the suggestion that some miraculous event is about to arrive. The female in the images is steering and owning various symbols that have existed throughout history via a sort of stations of the cross, reflecting a spirit of reparation to the sufferings and insults of WOMEN ‘during the passion.’
It has drama but also cheek. Darkness but also bright light.
I was invited to show the work when these unfinished thoughts were bubbling away in my studio, then chose to exhibit without putting a full stop on the series, or the concept.
I was also interested in and playing with imagery around the concept of objectophilia as a way of looking at the object of desire and understanding consent.
Queer or personal choice was at the forefront and this quote resonated:
From the book: This Dark Country - Women Artists, Still Life and Intimacy in the Early Twentieth Century. by Rebecca Birrel.
"To be freer in their expressions of desire, to make less of the gravity of sex, these concerns acknowledge how attitudes to sex were (and remain) closely interweaved with misogyny and homophobia: how those with the most power over the meaning of sex were the conservative institutions of religion, family and law. Transforming how they spoke about sex, even within their small social circle, was a way of challenging broader oppressive ideologies. Each conversation constituted a nick in the edifice of normativity: with enough effort it might shatter entirely."
Because this series is about deciding for ourselves, and the unbecoming is partly about saying we cannot be shamed by others, that sexual shame is an imposed construct.
My series title 'The Unbecoming' was prompted by observing how the word unbecoming has been used to impose shame on women. I wanted to subvert the term by inserting 'The' before the word to add the suggestion that some miraculous event is about to arrive. The female in the images is steering and owning various symbols that have existed throughout history via a sort of stations of the cross, reflecting a spirit of reparation to the sufferings and insults of WOMEN ‘during the passion.’
It has drama but also cheek. Darkness but also bright light.
I was invited to show the work when these unfinished thoughts were bubbling away in my studio, then chose to exhibit without putting a full stop on the series, or the concept.
I was also interested in and playing with imagery around the concept of objectophilia as a way of looking at the object of desire and understanding consent.
Queer or personal choice was at the forefront and this quote resonated:
From the book: This Dark Country - Women Artists, Still Life and Intimacy in the Early Twentieth Century. by Rebecca Birrel.
"To be freer in their expressions of desire, to make less of the gravity of sex, these concerns acknowledge how attitudes to sex were (and remain) closely interweaved with misogyny and homophobia: how those with the most power over the meaning of sex were the conservative institutions of religion, family and law. Transforming how they spoke about sex, even within their small social circle, was a way of challenging broader oppressive ideologies. Each conversation constituted a nick in the edifice of normativity: with enough effort it might shatter entirely."
Because this series is about deciding for ourselves, and the unbecoming is partly about saying we cannot be shamed by others, that sexual shame is an imposed construct.
Drowned Lands, 2021
acrylic, ink, and charcoal on paper 76 x 56 cm (unframed) |
Eglė, 2022
acrylic, ink, and charcoal on paper 76 x 56 cm (unframed) |
Celestial, 2023
acrylic, ink, and charcoal on paper 76 x 56 cm (unframed) |
Theatre of Cruelty, 2022
acrylic, ink, and charcoal on paper 76 x 56 cm (unframed) |
This Way, 2021
acrylic, ink, and charcoal on paper 56 x 38 cm (unframed) |