Use of fabrics and textiles in feminist art...

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.

Inspired by such art, I want to create a set of pieces that reflect these ideas. I am going to use some colours that are commonly associated with women, such as pink and red, and some that are not, like black and brown.

Art Fems exhibition poster 

 
Emily Miller, "X Chromosomes"

Inspired by the above poster for a feminist gallery exhibition I am going to, and also by Emily Miller's "X Chromosomes" work, I am going to make a set of pieces that reflect ideas about women and their bodies.

Ideas...

From my visual and historical research, one aspect of feminism and feminist art that has stood out to me is how the female body has been used in art. For thousands of years, it has been primarily used as a point of observation for male artists, who have focused on the aspects of a woman's body that make her attractive, dependant on the time. Woman have been (and still are) idealised by men, and this article explores how women have been portrayed in art from 1962 to 2002.

In my own work, I want to use the female body as a reference point, but rather than portray women in an idealised way, I want to show them in a more genuine, natural light.