Humanising the Abject: Metaphors for the Female Body

Abstract

The desire to represent the body has been a recurring theme throughout the history of creative expression. The ubiquitous depiction of the female body as an object for the male gaze throughout Western culture is responsible for perpetuating stereotypical notions of women and femininity. How to subvert these conventional meanings and give credence to the female body’s capacity to re-evaluate what it means to be human is at the fore of contemporary feminist theory. This exegesis contextualises my representation of the female body through an exploration of relevant feminist art from the 1970s onwards. Contemporary feminist theory that supports my interest in representing woman’s experience of her embodiment is also identified. In the exegesis, I interweave my discussion of the writings of theorists and the work of visual arts practitioners with descriptions and analysis of work that I have completed over the eight years of my doctoral candidature. I also refer to particular works that I executed before 2009 in an attempt to provide an overall context for the development of my current work. In Chapter 1, I acknowledge the second-wave feminist movement in the USA and relate the use of body-based imagery evident in the work of key artists Judy Chicago, Louise Bourgeois, and Frida Kahlo to my earlier drawings and paintings produced from 1990 to 2012. Chapter 2 realises the shift of emphasis in feminist artists’ work from the external representation of the female form to a more internalised space by aligning my research with predominant theorists from the 1980s onwards who were re-evaluating the body/mind relationship. Ideas of embodiment and abjection are explored through the work of artists Bourgeois, Carol Rama, and Mona Hatoum. The female body/presence is depicted in their work through their choice and manipulation of materials, which is a consideration that resonates strongly with the work I have created during my doctoral candidature. The theory of abjection has offered a compelling framework for me to create a range of visual perceptions of the female body, primarily through the medium of oil paint on canvas. The writings of Lucy Lippard, Cindy Nemser, Griselda Pollock, Mary Garrard, Mary Kelly, Elizabeth Grosz, and Rina Arya, among others, have been paramount in forming constructive arguments that support the theoretical basis of my practice-led research. I argue that as a woman, artist, and mother, I can—like so many before me—offer perspectives on women’s issues that contribute to raising consciousness among both men and women. What I have discovered through developing metaphors of female embodiment is that shame and embarrassment are still associated with the lived experience of the female body. Although this not a novel observation, it highlights the continued need for feminist artists to persevere in taking steps forward, no matter how small, in positing women as powerful agents of their own bodies. Humanising the Abject: Metaphors for the Female Body (2017) is also the title of an exhibition of paintings and small objects that aims to reflect this research.