Borders #2 - Blog Art Journal

I have just completed more work on another corset. - no 3 in the series for the exhibtion "Crossing Borders". For background information, please read a previous post....
Borders #1
This corset has been painted with black and pewter acrylic and the lacing and buttons have been replaced with wire. The corset with an edging of authoritative, overpowering words - silence-segregate- subvert - suppress- subdue- stifle-spurn represent the border and the boundary which still needs to be overcome to achieve gender equality.

Inside in graffiti style paint is the slogan #MeToo

The Me Too movement is a movement against sexual harassment and sexual assault. #MeToo spread virally in October 2017 as a hashtag used on social media in an attempt to demonstrate the widespread prevalence of sexual assault and harassment, especially in the workplace. (Wikipedia)

I added exaggerated wire breast covers to the front of the corset to further my statement that even with all the recent publicity, contemporary culture still idealises and stereotypes feminine beauty and our obsession with the ideal prevents us from crossing the border to recognise and respect equally the achievements of women.

Coincidentally, the completion of this particular work happens on a day when the first big celebrity has been convicted and sentenced for crimes of sexual assault since the beginning of the #MeToo movement.

While this series of corsets is quite different from most of my previous art work, it is a topic I have been exploring for quite a long time. In 1995, my Master's thesis was entitled " Shattering the Glass Ceiling in Educational Administration".
Has very much changed?

Comments

Giveaway - Gifts for You on My Birthday

Giveaway Gifts T his week is blog giveaway time! Last week I celebrated my birthday. I’ve had far too many to count the candles, but I had a wonderful party on the weekend with my family - with an indulgent birthday cake, favourite foods cooked by my husband and great company. ( In case you were wondering about the writing on the cake , Por Por = Chinese grandmother) I also got great gifts from my family and friends. There seemed to be a bit of a theme this year – with many of my gifts and cards depicting matryshoka ( babushka) dolls and tea drinking. As it is also winter here in Australia , it was easy for me to decide what I could offer as gifts in this birthday giveaway. All the gifts are handmade by me. Gift 1 - two little fabric matryshoka dolls Gift 2- a little bag made from colourful teapot and teacup fabric . The design is called a jester bag, but it is suitable for carrying s...

Pink Ribbon Giveaway

Today, 26 October, is Pink Ribbon Day. We started the morning at the community centre with my Rotary club, the Rotary Club of Wallsend-Maryland, and cooked pink pancakes and bacon and eggs (their natural colour) at a fundraising breakfast for Breast Cancer Research. I also bought a couple of items of pink merchandise to support the cause. The pink ribbon and pen are part of this week’s blog giveaway. It’s a pink parcel – a pink fabric bag, made from a Laurel Burch print, a beautiful flower made by my mum, one of our Rotary club’s angels of hope and the pen and ribbon. There may be some other little pink surprises which I may add during the week. All you have to do to win this prize is leave a comment, either about Pink Ribbon Day or one of the photos in this blog post. I will put all the names in a container and draw one next Monday, 2 November, 9am Australian Eastern Summer Time. The photos are of things I’ve finished this week. The beaded doll was started ages ago, before I we...

Giveaway x 3

As promised, to celebrate and thank you for over 500 likes on the Empress Wu Designs Facebook Page , here is a giveaway of some of my art - three giveaways, in fact. I have chosen three sets of art gift tags as prizes because they are easily posted worldwide... These tags make great small gifts themselves or as an accompaniment to a gift, or you can even use them as bookmarks. All you need to do to win a set is leave a comment here or on the Facebook page (or both) and next week on Monday, 6 October, 5pm Australian Eastern Summer Time, I will randomly choose three winners. The first person will have first choice (one of three sets of tags) ; the second person will have a choice of the remaining two sets, and I am afraid the third person will have whatever set has not been chosen before. Here they are: Art Tags Set A - Marie Antoinette series (mixed media tags) Marie Antoinette series - 1 Beehive tag( line drawing on tea bag paper, digital image wit...

Empress Wu Designs with Wilma

Search This Blog