No Added Sugar!

ECU Author/Contributor (non-ECU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)

Mairin Gwyn Narron (Creator)

Institution

East Carolina University (ECU )

Web Site: http://www.ecu.edu/lib/

Abstract: Artists are encouraged to challenge the status quo -- to question social norms. My artwork focuses on women's rights, challenging both obvious and "hidden" forms of sexism and misogyny. Using candy as the central medium, this work questions who holds power, why, and how we might improve the imbalance. This work emerges from my story and my personal journey towards empowerment. In this series, rather than "sugar-coating" hard issues, the work points out the prevalence of everyday sexism. Artists need to be critical thinkers in order to continue to observe and question the world around while experimenting with new meditations and forms of representation. This work has progressed from its initial concept and changed due to the influence of various artists and existentialist theorists. I have combined this research on published feminist theory with the artwork and join the two so that the theory can not only be read, but seen, and challenge and inform people's perspectives on sexism and power. No Added Sugar! is simultaneously approachable and serious, inviting viewers not to be intimidated by the work, while also reflecting on power dynamics and their relation to feminism. This work is a reflection of how I have felt subjugated in the past by those around me who reinforced patriarchal values. No Added Sugar! is a glimmering representation of how I seek license to create without restraint.

Additional Information

Publication

Thesis

Language: English

Date: 2020

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