Bodies and skin

Throughout the project I have been doing observational life drawings, of women of various sizes and shapes. Like the work of Jenny Saville, the bodies I have found the most interesting (visually and symbolically) to draw have been larger ones.

As with Saville's paintings, what appeals to me is the lines and shapes made by the body, so my next piece is a photographic work that focuses in detail on areas of the body that are not generally regarded as "beautiful". I have also drawn significant influence from the work of Giron Mathilde, whose work also focuses on the creases and curves in bodies:

Giron Mathilde, "Fragmentation of the body"

Own images:

The idea of "beauty"

The concept of "beauty" has been explored by artists for centuries, but recently artists such as Jenny Saville have begun to explore "real beauty" and the beauty of the human body in its natural state.

Jenny Saville, "Fulcrum"

Jenny Saville, "Strategy"

Jenny Saville, "Trace"

Jenny Saville, "Plan"

Jenny Saville, "Branded"

Associated with the YBA, Saville is best known for her large-scale paintings of naked women. Unlike many other artists, she paints bodies in a way that shows them as they naturally are, rather than the plastic surgery-enhanced bodies and faces that are often broadcast by the media:

"Her feminist subject matter, of obese and sometimes faceless women with vast bodies, partly originates from a trip to America. It was while studying at University of Cincinnati in Ohio that Saville’s fascination with the workings of the human body began to affect her artwork. Much of her work features distorted flesh, high-caliber brush strokes and patches of oil color, while others reveal the surgeon’s mark of a plastic surgery operation. In 1994, Saville spent many hours observing plastic surgery operations in New York City.

Since her debut in 1992, Saville's focus has remained on the female body, slightly deviating into subjects with "floating or indeterminant gender," painting large scale paintings of transgender people. Her published sketches and documents include surgical photographs of liposuction, trauma victims, deformity correction, disease states and transgender patients"

2nd "Love Hearts" piece

My second "Love Hearts" piece is a decorative wooden board, similar in style to those that are currently "on trend", but with a completely different message:

I chose to use pastel colours and the heart shape in keeping with my research into Love Hearts and colour theory, but like my slogan underwear, the messages are handwritten and the colour is hand painted.

This gives a "human" feel to a type of decoration that is often mass produced by machines and sold in bulk, but is in keeping with the vintage style of other decorations.

Slogans/"Love Hearts"

I chose to appropriate Love Hearts in my work, to make a comment about feminism and equality and how these kinds of objects are aimed at/about women. I painted a set of canvases in the same style as the sweets, but instead of being edible they can be used as decorations, in order to make a statement. They also feature sarcastic messages instead of the "cute", kitsch ones on the sweets:

"Wearable fabric art"

Whilst some artists like Miller and Morris use fabric in an implicit, suggestive way, it is often used to convey a far more literal message. Commonly found in shops worldwide, slogan clothing was made popular by Katharine Hamnett, and is now mass produced all over the world.

Katharine Hamnett's slogan t shirts

However this type of clothing, which began by conveying a positive political/social message, now often leans towards jokey or even crude slogans:

Slogan underwear like this is frequently seen in shops aimed at young people, leading them to think that these messages, which often promote promiscuity or sexualise young girls, are acceptable. 

Some feminist artists have already used underwear in their work to symbolise various issues:

Sarah Lucas, "Chicken Knickers"

Feminist slogan underwear, by Sami Cronk

Common themes in this kind of work include reinforcing the idea that women shouldn't have to wear nice underwear for men, and that tacky slogan clothing like that seen above does not give an accurate representation of women. It is also another reference to the fact that making clothes, sewing and embroidery are all seen as stereotypically "female" skills.

Manipulating fabric & colour

Whilst some artists manipulate fabric to turn it into something completely new (e.g. Emily Miller, Lin Tianmiao), others simply "rearrange" it in order to create implicit works. This is seen in Robert Morris's series of felt sculptures entitled "Vettii":

Despite the fact that they are simply pieces of coloured fabric hung up against a wall, there is something obviously sexual about the works. They work similarly to some of Georgia O'Keeffe's "flower paintings", which could be seen as literal flowers, or the metaphorical "flower" of the female body:

Morris's work is similar to other textile artists' work, in that the use of fabric rather than paint or pencil can convey more meaning and symbolism. Like the large pink fur sculptures of Emily Miller, Morris's hanging felt forms give a feeling of softness and femininity to the space. The colours used are also important - pink and brown are very "human" flesh like colours, as opposed to O'Keeffe's brightly coloured "flowers" which have a less obvious symbolic connotation.

Emily Miller - fabric work

Feminist art works are often made from particularly tactile materials (often contrasting ones ~ e.g. silk and pins) which highlight the contrast between men and women, or show that despite women's bodies are soft, they can be strong too.

Emily Miller, "X Chromosomes"

Emily Miller created this work from baby pink faux fur and steel, two contrasting materials - one stereotypically seen as "feminine" and the other "masculine". Named after the the two gender-determining chromosomes that decide whether a baby is a girl, the work is visually striking in terms of size, shape and materials used. The colour and tactile fur fabric suggests softness and delicacy, traits that are stereotypically associated with women, but the size and bold shapes of the piece imply strength and power: stereotypical male traits.

Feminist textile art

Several contemporary feminist artists use specific textiles and fabrics in their work, perhaps as a comment on stereotypically female activities like washing, sewing, dressmaking etc.


1) Julia Triston

Julia creates "knicker bunting", which has been used to launch the University of York's "Carnival of Feminist Cultural Activism".

2) Lin Tianmiao

Lin has made "badge" installations which show all the derogatory names a woman can be called.

3) Judy Chicago

Arguably Judy's most famous work, "The Dinner Party" is an installation which includes place settings (carrying connotations with "female jobs" like cooking and sewing) for 39 mythical and historical famous women, with 999 more named on the floor tiles. Judy's goal for this work was to "end the ongoing cycle of omission in which women were written out of the historical record". Butterfly or flower-like sculptures are used to represent vulvas, and the piece celebrates traditional female accomplishments like textile arts, which have been framed as craft or "domestic art", as opposed to the more culturally-valued, male-dominated fine arts.

4) Feminist cross stitch

Perhaps as a "nod" to artists like Chicago, many feminists in today's society are creating "traditionally female" art like cross stitching, but with an obvious feminist overtone:

5) Naiza Khan

In stark contrast to the soft fabrics used by some other feminist artists, Naiza uses metal and nails to create items of clothing historically used to restrain or hinder women:

Armour skirt

Armour corset