Women Artists on Being Women Artists
Creating art as a woman, under patriarchy.
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I wanted to compile a list of inspiration for you that’s not just from women artists, but wherein the art is actually engaged in exploring the experience of living as a woman. Also some conversations about creating art as a woman in a patriarchal world.
One of my favourite things to watch when I’m in a rut about making art is this video of Joey Soloway talking about creating art from the female gaze. They articulate thoughts I’ve had about how to make art, that I haven’t been able to express. It’s a long video but it’s so good. I highly recommend.
In this episode of The Great Women Artists Siri Hustvedt says “If I have to endure another show of Picasso and his muses I will just croak. It’s enough already.” If you’re just starting to get curious about women’s representation in art (or the lack of) this is a great podcast episode for dipping your toes into the subject.
Heidi Parkes is one of my favourite contemporary quilters. In this podcast she is interviewed about her work, specifically about creating textiles as a form of therapy, and memoir, including these insane quilts dyed using her menstrual blood. If you enjoyed my latest Substacks about reprioritizing life work balance and making hard decisions that are ultimately good decisions, this podcast episode also talk about Heidi’s transition from high school art teacher to full time artist and what that journey looked like for her.
This desire to be likeable it is really a pain in the neck. How are you going to be likeable and be yourself? -Louise Bourgeois
I really enjoyed this episode of The Great Women Artists with Tracey Emin. I’ve always loved her work and I was surprised by a lot of what she says about how she felt like an outsider for being a woman and making work about women’s issues.
I hope you find these podcasts, videos, and articles interesting and inspiring. It is not meant as a cop-out, to not write something for the week. I truly find all of these things so valuable and essential to my art practice and I want to share them with you. I spend hours every week pouring over inspiration and thinking about how my work fits into the greater art world. I think this is important for artists to do. Thanks for being here.
This article in the Guardian about Siri Husvedt.
Remember this: the world loves powerful men and hates powerful women. I know. Believe me, I know. The world will punish you, but you must hold fast.
This essay, The Mother of All Questions by Rebecca Solnit.
In the talk I had quoted with approval her description of murdering “the angel of the house,” the inner voice that tells many women to be self-sacrificing handmaidens to domesticity and male vanity.
This article in the Guardian by Katy Hessel, about the ongoing sexism women experience in the art world, even after they are dead.
But when it came to the headlines announcing her death, the media had other concerns. Instead of honouring and remembering her as the accomplished woman she was, The New York Times wrote: “Françoise Gilot, Artist in the Shadow of Picasso, Is Dead at 101.” The Guardian followed with “painter and muse to Picasso”; The Washington Post defined her as “celebrated artist, writer and muse to Picasso”; ARTNews wrote that she was an “Artist Who Fearlessly Chronicled Her Relationship with Picasso”.