Artforher

WCU Author/Contributor (non-WCU co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
Hannah Rebecca McBride (Creator)
Institution
Western Carolina University (WCU )
Web Site: http://library.wcu.edu/
Advisor
Ron Laboray

Abstract: The work addresses the complexities of being a female artist in a gendered world and commentson the structures of power outside and within the male-dominated canon of art. Fueled bystatistics and studies on the inequalities within the press, galleries, art markets, and educationalinstitutions, appropriated imagery from major newspapers, mass publications and morespecifically Artforum magazine inspires soft-sculpture and intricate machine-embroidered threaddrawings. The tangled, messy webs of thread that hang from these works reflect lamentations onvulnerability and strength - an idea further visited through the inclusion of the medium’shandicraft past and its connection to women’s work. Like feminist artists since the late 1960’s,my embroidery work is meant to challenge the boundaries that divide art from craft, public fromdomestic, and masculine from feminine (Auricchio 27). A feminist agenda is continued in orderto subvert male authority and reveal inequalities, hypocrisies and avenues traditionally restrictedfrom women. Through the conventionally feminine practice of sewing, the work consumes andreplaces the more masculine imagery, devouring it for power.

Additional Information

Publication
Thesis
Language: English
Date: 2015
Keywords
Embroidery, Fiber Art
Subjects
Feminism in art
Embroidery in art
Fabric pictures

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