Raising of the feminist consciousness - Sandra Lee Bartky

I've just been reading Sandra Lee Bartky's Femininity and Oppression, and found this text regarding feminist consciousness. I felt the need to share this!

'Scales fall from our eyes. We are no longer required to struggle against unreal enemies, to put other's interests ahead of our own, or to hate ourselves. We begin to understand why we have such depreciated images of ourselves and why so many of us are lacking in any genuine conviction of personal worth.

Understanding, or even beginning to understand this, makes it possible to change. No longer do we have to practice upon ourselves that mutilation of intellect and personality required of individuals who, caught up in an irrational and destructive system, are nevertheless not allowed to regard it as anything but sane, preogressive and normal. Moreover, that feeling of alienation from established society which is so prominent a feature of feminist experience, may be counterbalanced by a new indentification with women of all conditions and a growing sense of solidarity with other feminists.

- Sandra Lee Bartky, Femininity and Oppression, page 21.

Dissertation writing - Charlotte Perkins Gilman

If a physician of high standing, and one’s own husband, assures friends and relatives that there really is nothing the matter with one but temporary nervous depression – a slight hysterical tendency – what is one to do?

My brother is also a physician, and also of high standing, and he says the same thing.

So I take phosphates or phosphates – whichever it is, and tonics, and journeys, and air, and exercise, and am absolutely forbidden to ‘work’ until I am well again.

Personally I disagree with their ideas.

Personally, I believe that congenial work, with excitement and change, would do me good. But what is one to do?

I did write for a while in spite of them, but it does exhaust me a good deal – having to be so sly about it, or else meet with heavy opposition.’

An extract from Charlotte Perkins Gilman's The Yellow Wallpaper. I'm currently in the middle of researching and writing my dissertation and came across in Joan Busfield's text Men, Women and Madness'. A classic example of a patriarchal society!

Booklets Finished!

I've just finished putting together 10 copies of my printed booklet of drawings - each one has been bound by sewing and includes 12 drawings. The pages are double sided and each booklet is A5 in size.I'm not sure whether to title the collection of drawings yet, I was thinking maybe something like 'A Kitsch Dozen'? I'm a bit rubbish at coming up with titles!

I want to try and add more surreal elements into my clay figures, and based on the psychiatric diagnosis of 'Intense Vanity' in the 1900's, (that I read about whilst researching) I wanted to try and communicate this idea through my sculptures.

I decided to create the plaited hair on this figure and make it into a chain-like rope, weighing down and burdening the figure. I'm not sure how much this idea translates but I feel like this is a step in the right direction towards more surreal work.

Finished models

I've just finished painting the three models, and although I had an accident with one of them and knocked it off the edge of the table ( a result of my own clumsiness and desk piled high with items!) it was easy to fix with a bit of wood glue. Hooray! I am pleased with how these three figures have turned out, but feel like I need to do more of them to see how this affects their reading.

Draft version of booklet of drawings

I've finished making a practice version of the booklet of drawings I want to make. With the other booklet I made, I didn't include a front cover, but I think the addition of the brown card as the cover for this bokolet works well and compliments the drawings within. Apart from anything, it will help protect the drawings inside and prevent them getting tatty!

Large scale try-out

Here are a few images of my largest sculpture that I've tried making. I feel like there isn't enough detail within the sculpture and it feels slightly clumsy? The 'unfinished' feel of the piece adds to it's handmade nature, but think there is definite room for progression. I'm not sure what I'm trying to say with this piece either, part of it was just trying out a large scale figure but I think I need to add more to it. A step in the right direction though.

These are the most recent clay models I've been working on. I've tried to be more delicate with these compared to my last large-scale one, and i think they've turned out more successful because of this. I've tried to add an element of the surreal to each of them, with one of the figures having entwined legs, or an almost suffocating hair plait. Whilst making them, I was thinking about some of the diagnoses given to women in psychiatric hospitals in the 20th century such as 'Intense Vanity' - too much attention paid one's appearance was enough to prompt incarceration within a suitable institution.

Models

I've recently been looking at the work of Shary Boyle:

http://www.sharyboyle.com/

In her work, she creates clay models and then makes ornamental sculptures and large scale installations with them.

The way she works really makes me want to try something big scale with the models that I've been working on. Although previously I've only been making heads of figures, I tried making a large scale model but it felt a bit clumsly. I think the next step forward for me is to be really ambitious and just try something on a large scale set up. If it doesn't work out then I can learn from it and find a way to make things work!

New collection of drawings

I've been doing a lot of ink drawings recently so thought I would try and make another booklet of drawings because my last one was quite successful. I want to change the type of paper and way that this next one is printed though because previously, my last booklet looked a bit too manufactured.I was thinking I could maybe hand draw the covers on the booklets this time and maybe sew the books to bind them?

I'm not really sure yet but here are a few images that I want to include in the booklet.

Once the clay models dried, I sealed them with PVA and then painted them with white acrylic. I gave them a final coating of PVA all over to give a shiny finish. I have had thoughts about adding colour to them but I'll have to put that idea on hold for now as reading week is fast approaching and I'm heading home tomorrow! Unfortunately my week won't all comprise of R&R as we have a draft hand in of our FoCi dissertation due on wednesday after reading week is over. It's going to be hard-going!

Clay modelling

Here are a few of the clay models that I've been working on recently. The back three are all based on bought ornaments but the one closest to the front is imagined and i'm not sure if this one has been the most successful? I'm starting to get a feel for the material and enjoying working with clay, it feels good to be productive! I think i'm going to concentrate on working with clay for now and take a step back from the drawings, I was started to get a bit fed up of them yesterday.

Gettin' Larger!

I decided to try a big scale forest/woodland using A1 sheets of paper....I was pleased at first but I'm seriously doubting my inclusion of the figure at the bottom right hand corner. I don't want to turn the piece into something tacky, and obvious...

Maybe the piece would work better if i cropped sections and enlarged them?

New ink paintings

This week i've gone off on a slight tangent from drawings of kitsch ornaments, and have been focusing on trees and woodland. I'm not sure why I'm drawn to trees/woodland theme yet - but I must have been influenced by something! Although we did have a friday event last week and the artist Tim Collins is a researcher of the environment/nature so that may be the link!

New Website!

I'm just in the middle of setting up my own website and how bought the domain name and web hosting!

www.nicola-spencer.co.uk

I've only got a couple of pages on it so far but i'm gonna try and get it mostly finished by the end of the month. xx

I tried adding colour to some of my ink drawings this week and I don't think they've turned out too badly! I'm going to work on the scale of them and try both big scale and small scale works to see the impact this has on how my is read/interpreted. I also tried out repetition and more painterly drawings, trying to find out which one will work the best.Here's what I've come up with so far: