Moreover, this piece of art also spoke to me on a deeper level due to the artist being a part of a similar generation to me. Naturally, I compared Orwell’s view on women and society and the negativity it had to this much more contemporary artist and their opinion on society as well as the lighter tone it showcases. To me this shows a growth in societal views on feminist art.

concept

I believe that this piece of work was very effective as it portrayed my idea of taking up time as a woman. I think I would like to explore this topic more in the future and I would like to experiment with more materials, using them in a similar way.  

How will I install my work?

How do I have an impact?

In my current practice I have been able to develop this thought in terms of concept and research as I have been able to create a whole body of work reflecting this idea of 'taking up space' successfully and confidently. Whereas, Last year this piece was simply a last minute decision and did not hold as much weight as I would've liked it too. I was unable to expand my thinking last year and lacked a strong contextual background to my work, resulting in an almost flat body of work. This is something I wanted to highly improve this semester. I have been able to do this through my extensive research into contemporary and historical sources and artists as well as many different exhibitions and media forms all exploring the concept of women in art and taking up space.

This book also inspired me to explore more of Katy Hessel's work, especially her articles written for the Guardian.

From this I thought of the idea of having a physical tea party with plates and bowls as well as other typically elements of a tea party such as: center pieces, napkins, and a tablecloth which would all include an element of my face on it. This would allow me to take up space regardless of where I am or where my artwork is placed.

As I was planning this I studied ‘the dinner party’ by Chicago and started to think about who I would invite to the party and what impact would be the best result.

Hello, my project is 'taking up space' and I am focusing primarily on taking up space as a woman in society as well as exploring what it means to take up space as a woman in the art world.

My initial ideas stemmed from the work I was doing in the second year prior which was later centered on the idea of maker vs muse and how women are presented in art. This idea evolved into taking up space after I was introduced to the concept of 'the fruit bowl' in art and the similarities a bowl of fruit and a woman share when it comes to being a muse. They are seen in similar lights as they have both been used as primary muses for countless pieces throughout art history. This inspired my thinking and encouraged me to direct my practice into where it is now.

when I first began this project I had two questions, How do I take up space as a woman? And do I even take up any? I wasn't too sure on the answer to either at the beginning but it enabled me to progress in my practice in an attempt to explore these questions.

To kick start this project I immediately began working big and on a larger scale as I wasn't sure yet what ideas I wanted to explore in detail but I knew I needed to start taking up space. Through this my work progressed and as I developed my self-portrait I decided on how I would continue this idea. I want to eventually have at least 3 self-portraits all in a similar scale joined together through the 'jigsaw' of boards and create almost a mural-esque image that extends over a whole wall. I thought that this would be an interesting way of exhibiting my work as when you enter or approach everyone is immediately outnumbered by me and my image, finally being the most dominant figure in the room. A contrast to my everyday life.

In terms of artists that are my main point of focus, the Guerrilla girls and Caroline Walker have inspired my work the most.

Many of the Guerrilla girls work focuses on how women are treated and portrayed in the art world. Through my research I found work of theirs from 1989 and work from 2021 that hold the same message centering on the same idea of how women are not welcomed into the art world unless they are objectified as the muse. Seeing how this treatment still stands today I was curious to know is making art as a woman, of a woman (who is me) would make me feel more welcomed or accepted in the art world or if it would still leave me uninvited. This is why I wanted to continue to focus on self-portraits.

My second artist is Caroline Walker who's work celebrates the regularity of women simply existing. For some, her work is viewed as 'voyeuristic' as it can appear as if she is intruding on these women's (who she focus her paintings on) lives. She prefers to challenge this interpretation and the history of women being used as a muse in art by changing the narrative. She is curious to see if a piece of work created by a woman makes you change the way you feel about it. This is what I was curious about, also as i'm interested to see if my self portraits convey a more feminist point of view with the knowledge that I created them. Or if they still just read as a common portrait of a woman.

My final artist is Judy Chicago and mainly her work 'the dinner party' which is a large table with a place for notable women in history at each place mat. All including a customized plate and other decorations linking to the individual. Through this work Judy Chicago metaphorically gave women a seat at the table.

Elaborating on from this concept, I too wanted to direct my 2D work into a more 3D setting by creating a 'tea party' of my own.Creating pieces of crockery by hand and re purposing existing pieces. I want to paint or somehow print /sublimate features of my face or my whole face onto each piece of the tea set. Alongside this I want to also have a table cloth underneath all of this with my self-portrait sublimated into it. Once I have all of this completed I would like to do a performance piece with some participants ad actually have lunch at this tea party using all of the items I have created. This shared a similar idea of taking up space that my portrait mural does but just at a larger scale whilst also directly taking up other people's space without them avoiding it. Therefore, giving myself a seat at the table and taking up every other seat regardless of who is actually sat there.

In terms of further references I have researches Sofia Coppola and her set designs used in her filmography and how they are all very detailed and realistic to the character of choice. I think this intricacy to a female's personal space is very positive and reminiscent of Caroline Walker's work. Her movie adaptation of 'the virgin suicides' is also an interesting point of interest as it focuses on the troubles and hardships that come with existing as a woman.

As well as this I have also briefly looked at Jo Spence and her photography and self portraiture celebrating womanhood and ridiculing the patriarchy.

More work I have created as well as other ideas center on the idea of time. Specifically taking up time. For this piece I was curious to discover what is more impactful, the fact that it took me 16 minutes and 48 seconds to waste a whole oil pastel or the fact that a woman spent 16 minutes and 48 seconds on a piece of art. I am yet to explore this element of my practice further. This is something I wanted to channel during my pop up by installing my work in the men's toilets and have the image set up in a way that makes a female the more dominating figure in a male dominated space.

I wasn't sure what I wanted my plates to convey to the viewers yet besides the fact that I was taking up space.

My top priority will be the tea party and finalizing that but I also will continue to work with the self portrait mural and develop that alongside. I have a lot of artists and pieces of media ready to start looking into next semester to broaden my contextual thinking.