Theoretical and Contextual References.

Theoretical reference : 

Andrea Liss. Feminist Art and the Maternal - Kindle Edition.

Below is an opening paragraph that sets the stage for the book.  I feel it demonstrates how being a "mother" is "felt" -as a danger, a vulnerability, a pre-set expectation of behaviour.   That this person announced that she would never be a mother - was such a bigger statement than to say she would never want to have a child (birth, nurturing a child/ reproduction are swallowed by an expected scenario) - she would never want to be in a position where she was part of something that she had no control over- that tried to control her. It makes me want to create art that challenges the control structures -so that women do have autonomy. 

She stands in front of a projected image of a Renaissance Madonna. The sinuous line of the Mother Mary's flowing gown, her angelic gaze upon her infant son, and the undeniable calm and power of this maternal image make a deep impression on the class. The Mother Mary's splendid body superimposed upon hers, my student declares clares that she will never be a mother. The glow from the projector highlights lights the outline of her stout and resolutely poised body. Her thick reddish brown hair is cropped just below her ears. She wears blue jean overalls over a white, lacy top. A man's navy blue suit jacket fits tightly over her outfit. "Good girl" low-heeled beige pumps complete her hybrid design of mixed gender codes. She stands there rebellious yet on the verge of tears. As if the Mother Mary alone awaited her words, this young woman has dared to announce that she will never be a mother. She tells the class that she had to flee Mexico, where her American mother and Mexican stepfather live. The religious sect to which they belong forbids her to go to college. She was allowed to leave home only if she studied to become a grade school teacher. Studying feminism in the context of art history and the humanities, ties, this brave young woman-a budding feminist-was truly undercover at California State University San Marcos, located forty-three miles north of the Mexican border. Remembering this poignant and telling classroom episode, I am impressed pressed by the passion of this young woman's innocent yet sophisticated knowledge. She made her point well, contrasting maternal power in the revered religious icon of the Mother Mary with her own contested bodily and psychic sense of the maternal. She highlighted through this strategy egy that both the Virgin Mary and her adamant without-child-young-woman-self have both been repressed, disdained, and perversely made the target of patriarchal love, hate, and fear. Her burgeoning feminism was played out through her refusal to be contained and defined according ing to motherhood and gender, her rejection of limited possibilities for women, and her awareness that the only choice allowed to her as a career reer was one that her mother and stepfather perversely infantilized (as if being a grade school teacher were not one of the most important jobs a woman or a man can hold). This young woman's self-imposed taboo to "never be a mother," formulated through her resistance against the lie that women, especially mothers, are not or cannot be thinking, critical human beings, highlights in extreme terms the false either/or premise that seeks to exclude a woman from being a feminist and a mother. 

Contextual reference 1; Rebecca Solnit - hope in the dark. p13. This was the inspiration for my exhibition proposal - I selected artists that were related to the themes that I am exploring but I presented artworks in a way that old certainties could be questioned, in order for us to consider how we shape the future.

"I want to illuminate a past that is seldom recognised, one in which the power of individuals and unarmed people is colossal, in which the scale of change in the world and the collective imagination over the past few decades is staggering, in which the astonishing things that have taken place can brace us for entering that dark future with boldness. To recognise the momentousness of what has happened is to apprehend what might happen.  Inside the word emergency is emerge; from an emergency new things come forth. The old certainties are crumbling fast, but danger and possibility are sisters.  "

Contextual reference 2; this poem is around expectations. and women reaching or foreseeing an age where they cannot be bothered to conform anymore - it's relatable -not just because of the sentiment and the idea of liberation, but because there are many women that feel this way. It was written when Jenny Joseph was in her 20's. This led me to paint the hat and top of my latest painting purple and red.

It was read by Helana Bonham Carter who commented why wait to feel the freedom to do what. you want, you may not live to be that old.  

Link to article

Warning; When I am an old woman I shall wear purple.  - Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple

With a red hat which doesn’t go, and doesn’t suit me.

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves

And satin sandals, and say we’ve no money for butter.

I shall sit down on the pavement when I’m tired

And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells

And run my stick along the public railings

And make up for the sobriety of my youth.

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain

And pick flowers in other people’s gardens

And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat

And eat three pounds of sausages at a go

Or only bread and pickle for a week

And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry

And pay our rent and not swear in the street

And set a good example for the children.

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practise a little now?

So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised

When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.