The Female Gaze
My stories could be judged as outrageous, yet they are mine. Regardless of where, how or to whom I reveal my work, it is observed, it is gazed upon. Through this investigation I am exploring the qualities of the Gaze—the Male Gaze and the evolving Female Gaze—as fundamental to my art practice. Nonetheless I am left with more questions than answers. How do I represent myself as a woman through the Female Gaze?
My work Coveted is a self-portrait about not wanting to be fully seen as the object of the gaze; the hand is used to obstruct the gazer and depict the discomfort of how it feels to be the object of the gaze or the assumed property of the patriarchy.
My self-portrait Gaze on the Gazer portrays the way the Female Gaze can dare to return the gaze. It is developing the idea of the gazed-upon retaliating, consciously fighting back in response to the gazer.
My Burden is You is a self-portrait about feeling the weight of the Male Gaze. I am painting self-portraits with a traditional approach (experimenting with layers of glaze) using a contemporary perspective.
You Will Never Know is a profile portrait presenting the back view, signifying keeping her secrets, a conscious depiction of what will not be revealed in order to subvert the ubiquitous male perspective.
To quote my dear friend and writer Cindee Pascoe in her response to In You I Trust: “You have managed to get the balance between confrontation and yearning in the expression; the eyes with an ‘un-coy’ soberness but fragile, almost teary demand. The exposure of the breast as both offering and symbol; your determined invitation for the viewer to see ‘fuller’, deeper possibility of the traditionally erotic.”
I have developed the self-portraits as a series of five paintings that speak to the ideals of the Female Gaze.
My aim is to draw attention to the enculturation of the Male Gaze which has dominated how we view bodies, especially the female body. This has led me to investigate how I can represent myself in the context of self-portraiture—painting using oil on canvas—in such a way that I can invite a Female Gaze. This project is very much in its early stages of conceptual development and will continue into future research and education.