PROTEST & PROTECT
DECEMBER 2020
CHINYERE AKACHUKWU
The work is a representation and retelling of the murder of George Floyd. It’s a call for active participation against societal injustices based on societal labels like race and gender as against a passive bystander viewing approach.
FARZANA AKHTAR
Existence in this world comes with taking initiative of fulfilling needs, digging out the motive of every work, efforts for survival, cast of creativity on chosen grounds and maintaining a good relationship of give and take in every walk of life. Nevertheless, in women's case this existence comes with some extensions, which namely are skills in household, decking oneself up, tolerance, presence of mind and graceful movements. If these mentioned things are not rendered properly then you have to ace in another field compulsorily. The female individuals don't get the opportunity or more likely the freedom of getting the sense of belonging to a society by any allowance of initiated efforts and mustered up courage rather faces obligations stereotypically wrapped up to the process in some feet-binding or social norms. In the end of everything it's women who steps up for their argued rights, intolerable violence, manifesting their identity and efforts, torturous superstitions and so many other hurdles of their life.
SUSAN BERGER
These works explore the interests of women in our society and how women sacrificed and had to take the abuses that came their way.
JADE-ASHLEIGH
Spliced, assembled and bound. Misshapen and distorted female beauty, mutilated and distorted by the male gaze. Delving into the excess of the archive, Jade-Ashleigh explores the depths of memory by repurposing forgotten materials to provoke dream sequences and elude the viewers conscious. Fragmented, loaded artefacts displays the significance of time and psychological states; where the juxtaposition of pornographic media is used to highlight female victimisation of the male gaze within glamour and sexuality. Piles of collated images and documents scatter across her studio creating a comforting chaos. Working across mediums allows for an emphasis on process and for viewers to connect with the collections. Jade-Ashleigh’s work emerges from experiments with the analogue processes of film and photomontage, exploring the history of the archive and women’s identity and desires within it.
JAMIE BERNSTEIN
These four works center on ideas of disordered eating and ritualistic consumption. They are intended to explore the idea of food as play and how that interaction is called into question. As long as we are not provided with a goal worthy of our emptiness we will copy the emptiness of others and constantly regenerate from the purgatory from which we are trying to escape.
ALLISON BELOLAN
Focusing on Mary as a symbol of strength, independence, of integrity, of autonomous action as put forth by feminist philosopher Mary Daly, these collages were made as an emotional response to the beginning of the Covid19 pandemic. These collages grapple with the difficult task of religion, Catholicism in particular, as a feminist. It is an attempt to reclaim Mary as a symbol of inner female strength, knowledge, and comfort from the patriarchal view of her as the ideal woman/mother.
NAZRENE ALSIRO
Although as a society, we thought the coronavirus was the worst thing that could happen to our country, when Georgia choose to open the city despite the risk we came back out to a culture battle that affects Black lives. This Real World has always been there. These photos are compression of the multiple narratives running through our time.
ALEXANDRA "SCREENGIRL" AQUILINA
"Qima" is a piece which tackles various elements of femininity from a Maltese lens. It explores the idea of how women should be protected and kept powerless through duty (wedding lace) and oppression (the "pastizz" - a vulva shaped snack used as an offensive term like cunt/pussy) juxtaposed against the idea the women were historically venerated and adored (the Venus of Malta and the Virgin Mary elements). Through this pieces I try to juxtapose these elements and reinterpret them to protest the imposed meaning of what a woman should be in society. The wedding lace is no longer white, but blood red, the "pastizz" takes on the form of the Madonna who is birthing a new tattooed Venus. It is not a loud protest, but it is an internal and self reflective one which offers the protection you need not the protection imposed.
KEITH D BUSWELL
This body of work uses floral symbols juxtaposed to undergarments and taboo accessories to reveal flagrant and fragrant misconceptions surrounding the sexes. Utilizing the stark and graphic nature of the pencil on paper against the feminine backdrop of ready-made fabric, acknowledging my own preconceptions of the gender spectrum with cultural meanings of botany. These stereotypes become the artificial amphorae that contain life. By exposing the layers just above our skin, unveiling comical and controversial imagery normally deemed inappropriate, this work not only showcases my own preconceived notions of gender but also the generic symbolism flowers also hold. While the urn may seem anathematic, the joining of floral adornments creates a childlike and whimsical look at otherwise controversial subject matter. For whatever reason, our society has emphasized meaning behind nature, from the innocence of the daisy to the strength of the sunflower. There is a bouquet for every occasion and a label for every person. Unmentionables marries these two concepts into a comprehensive evaluation of my personal biases juxtaposed to societal evaluations. Creating a conversation is the ultimate goal of this body of work. Establishing the fact that our own idiosyncrasies undermine our knowledge of actual issues and people, denies our ability to accept each other in terms of a beautiful prism of diverseness. My work is the queer filter by which I categorize and process how the rest of the world views me with how I perceive myself. I have learned that beneath the surface of the genders exists a gamut of voices that have historically been shoved in the closet or tucked away in drawers.
PROTEST & PROTECT
DECEMBER 2020
CHINYERE AKACHUKWU
The work is a representation and retelling of the murder of George Floyd. It’s a call for active participation against societal injustices based on societal labels like race and gender as against a passive bystander viewing approach.
FARZANA AKHTAR
Existence in this world comes with taking initiative of fulfilling needs, digging out the motive of every work, efforts for survival, cast of creativity on chosen grounds and maintaining a good relationship of give and take in every walk of life. Nevertheless, in women's case this existence comes with some extensions, which namely are skills in household, decking oneself up, tolerance, presence of mind and graceful movements. If these mentioned things are not rendered properly then you have to ace in another field compulsorily. The female individuals don't get the opportunity or more likely the freedom of getting the sense of belonging to a society by any allowance of initiated efforts and mustered up courage rather faces obligations stereotypically wrapped up to the process in some feet-binding or social norms. In the end of everything it's women who steps up for their argued rights, intolerable violence, manifesting their identity and efforts, torturous superstitions and so many other hurdles of their life.
SUSAN BERGER
These works explore the interests of women in our society and how women sacrificed and had to take the abuses that came their way.
JADE-ASHLEIGH
Spliced, assembled and bound. Misshapen and distorted female beauty, mutilated and distorted by the male gaze. Delving into the excess of the archive, Jade-Ashleigh explores the depths of memory by repurposing forgotten materials to provoke dream sequences and elude the viewers conscious. Fragmented, loaded artefacts displays the significance of time and psychological states; where the juxtaposition of pornographic media is used to highlight female victimisation of the male gaze within glamour and sexuality. Piles of collated images and documents scatter across her studio creating a comforting chaos. Working across mediums allows for an emphasis on process and for viewers to connect with the collections. Jade-Ashleigh’s work emerges from experiments with the analogue processes of film and photomontage, exploring the history of the archive and women’s identity and desires within it.
JAMIE BERNSTEIN
These four works center on ideas of disordered eating and ritualistic consumption. They are intended to explore the idea of food as play and how that interaction is called into question. As long as we are not provided with a goal worthy of our emptiness we will copy the emptiness of others and constantly regenerate from the purgatory from which we are trying to escape.
ALLISON BELOLAN
Focusing on Mary as a symbol of strength, independence, of integrity, of autonomous action as put forth by feminist philosopher Mary Daly, these collages were made as an emotional response to the beginning of the Covid19 pandemic. These collages grapple with the difficult task of religion, Catholicism in particular, as a feminist. It is an attempt to reclaim Mary as a symbol of inner female strength, knowledge, and comfort from the patriarchal view of her as the ideal woman/mother.
NAZRENE ALSIRO
Although as a society, we thought the coronavirus was the worst thing that could happen to our country, when Georgia choose to open the city despite the risk we came back out to a culture battle that affects Black lives. This Real World has always been there. These photos are compression of the multiple narratives running through our time.
ALEXANDRA "SCREENGIRL" AQUILINA
"Qima" is a piece which tackles various elements of femininity from a Maltese lens. It explores the idea of how women should be protected and kept powerless through duty (wedding lace) and oppression (the "pastizz" - a vulva shaped snack used as an offensive term like cunt/pussy) juxtaposed against the idea the women were historically venerated and adored (the Venus of Malta and the Virgin Mary elements). Through this pieces I try to juxtapose these elements and reinterpret them to protest the imposed meaning of what a woman should be in society. The wedding lace is no longer white, but blood red, the "pastizz" takes on the form of the Madonna who is birthing a new tattooed Venus. It is not a loud protest, but it is an internal and self reflective one which offers the protection you need not the protection imposed.
KEITH D BUSWELL
This body of work uses floral symbols juxtaposed to undergarments and taboo accessories to reveal flagrant and fragrant misconceptions surrounding the sexes. Utilizing the stark and graphic nature of the pencil on paper against the feminine backdrop of ready-made fabric, acknowledging my own preconceptions of the gender spectrum with cultural meanings of botany. These stereotypes become the artificial amphorae that contain life. By exposing the layers just above our skin, unveiling comical and controversial imagery normally deemed inappropriate, this work not only showcases my own preconceived notions of gender but also the generic symbolism flowers also hold. While the urn may seem anathematic, the joining of floral adornments creates a childlike and whimsical look at otherwise controversial subject matter. For whatever reason, our society has emphasized meaning behind nature, from the innocence of the daisy to the strength of the sunflower. There is a bouquet for every occasion and a label for every person. Unmentionables marries these two concepts into a comprehensive evaluation of my personal biases juxtaposed to societal evaluations. Creating a conversation is the ultimate goal of this body of work. Establishing the fact that our own idiosyncrasies undermine our knowledge of actual issues and people, denies our ability to accept each other in terms of a beautiful prism of diverseness. My work is the queer filter by which I categorize and process how the rest of the world views me with how I perceive myself. I have learned that beneath the surface of the genders exists a gamut of voices that have historically been shoved in the closet or tucked away in drawers.