Madeline Sutanto
Madeline Sutanto
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Meet The Artist on : meet.google.com/acs-awym-gag
Curatorial Rationale
Curatorial Rationale
My exhibition conveys the theme of ‘gender inequality’ and ‘sexism’ by the society and aims to bring awareness of issues faced by women who are mistreated. Each piece explores different aspects of predicaments such as sexual harassment, gender discrimination and stereotypes. I chose this theme because I want to bring this issue to light as it’s often considered a sensitive subject to be discussed, especially in my country where most citizens are traditional thinkers. In result, women suffer consequences of harmed mental health and living in fear.
The main concept of my first artwork, My Word Against Yours, expresses gender stereotypes faced by women. The speech bubble and words in the background signify beliefs created by society that women are expected to follow. The different shades of pink emphasize femininity and the emerging black shadow behind the lady shows the pressure that arises from these beliefs. My second artwork displays sexual harassment; The Female Object, depicts a woman’s body being touched by hands, symbolizing those who inappropriately touch women for their own satisfaction. The white color represents the body being seen as an object, no longer receiving respect, hence covering the humanlike colored skin. Both of these pieces are exhibited first to draw feelings of concern as the main figures are situated in a “dark” place. The pattern of mistreatment is continually shown through the next piece, Hanging by a Thread, as it highlights patriarchy misused to predominate women. Threads sewed into the canvas are grasped by a hand to symbolize control and the inability for women to have freedom. This brings us to my final artwork titled Suppressed, as it centers on an agitated woman being silenced highlighting the issue on having freedom of expression and portraying a dull atmosphere through her troubled appearance. This piece connects to the other artworks, as women are ignored in society and unable to express concerns relating to gender inequality.
Various mediums are used to communicate various issues faced by women in society such as oil paint used in Suppression to bring more realism in the lady’s expression and clay modeling in The Female Object to bring life to the body parts. Personally witnessing women being degraded majorly influenced me to apply this theme in my work. Overall, I intend to evoke sympathy and raise awareness to audiences regarding gender inequality through the scenes of discrimination towards women in my artworks.
The main concept of my first artwork, My Word Against Yours, expresses gender stereotypes faced by women. The speech bubble and words in the background signify beliefs created by society that women are expected to follow. The different shades of pink emphasize femininity and the emerging black shadow behind the lady shows the pressure that arises from these beliefs. My second artwork displays sexual harassment; The Female Object, depicts a woman’s body being touched by hands, symbolizing those who inappropriately touch women for their own satisfaction. The white color represents the body being seen as an object, no longer receiving respect, hence covering the humanlike colored skin. Both of these pieces are exhibited first to draw feelings of concern as the main figures are situated in a “dark” place. The pattern of mistreatment is continually shown through the next piece, Hanging by a Thread, as it highlights patriarchy misused to predominate women. Threads sewed into the canvas are grasped by a hand to symbolize control and the inability for women to have freedom. This brings us to my final artwork titled Suppressed, as it centers on an agitated woman being silenced highlighting the issue on having freedom of expression and portraying a dull atmosphere through her troubled appearance. This piece connects to the other artworks, as women are ignored in society and unable to express concerns relating to gender inequality.
Various mediums are used to communicate various issues faced by women in society such as oil paint used in Suppression to bring more realism in the lady’s expression and clay modeling in The Female Object to bring life to the body parts. Personally witnessing women being degraded majorly influenced me to apply this theme in my work. Overall, I intend to evoke sympathy and raise awareness to audiences regarding gender inequality through the scenes of discrimination towards women in my artworks.
Artwork 1"My Word Against Yours"42 x 59.4 cm Digital Art
This artwork represents the theme of “sexism” as it portrays how women are expected to fit a certain image and stereotype to be accepted in society. The speech bubble symbolizes the words conveyed by society to women and the sentences behind the figure of the lady are beliefs women are expected to follow. Use of different shades of pink emphasizes femininity as the issue focuses on women and the emerging black shadow behind the lady signifies the pressure that arises from those expectations.
Artwork 2"The Female Object"30 cm x 30 cm x 30 cmSynthetic Clay Modeling
Many women deal with being mistreated physically for men’s personal satisfaction; this artwork brings awareness to a sensitive issue of women being sexually harassed and depicts the reality of threats women face in society. A body of a woman has its skin covered in white paint no longer giving it humanlike colored skin. The crawling hands are a symbol of harassment and abuse by others towards the body no longer considering her feelings, hence the body being seen and treated as an object.
Artwork 3"Hanging by a Thread"60 cm x 40 cmThread and Ink on Canvas
This artwork emphasizes the danger of control due to power and patriarchy, which can be seen in many occasions from relationships, households, workplace, etc. The variety of colored faces sewn into the canvas represents women of different races and the flowing thread being grasped by the hand symbolizes the dominance and control from men and the society. This piece portrays women not having freedom and the authority misused by men, as they feel entitled to be in control.
Artwork 4"Suppressed"60 cm x 40 cmOil on Canvas
This piece brings out unsettling feelings to arise from the troubled expression of a lady being silenced. The image represents feelings of being trap as the lady is suppressed from speaking her mind. This symbolizes the issue of freedom of expression being dismissed due to stereotypical gender roles. Sadness can be seen from the expression of the women caused by the hand silencing her lips. The dark shades of color bring out tension and mystery as the women deals with mistreatment in silence.
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