Origami/the Body, Feminine
In this series the flexible feminine form is folded into a compact, complex structure of limbs and drapery. The figures function on multiple levels; the poses present individual personality in gesture and posture, but also reveal cultural strictures and explore the changing landscape of the feminine. The titles are all articles of clothing, representing the aspect of presentation that is so important in the subtle subjugation and colonization of the feminine.
The solitary figures are seated on the ground as a symbolic representation of women connected to the earth. This meta narrative addresses the construct, deeply embedded in the western canon of art, that artificially divides the body from the mind. In these portraits I seek to express the beauty, individuality and humanity of ordinary women, adding my voice to the feminist struggle to re-envision our own image.
The ground on which these classically painted figures recline begins with a simple evocation of floor and walls, which gradually yields to a variety of spaces shifting from realism to abstraction, incorporating elements of Klimt, Gerhardt Richter, Lyonel Feininger and Japanese ink drawings. - Hauser 2021
The solitary figures are seated on the ground as a symbolic representation of women connected to the earth. This meta narrative addresses the construct, deeply embedded in the western canon of art, that artificially divides the body from the mind. In these portraits I seek to express the beauty, individuality and humanity of ordinary women, adding my voice to the feminist struggle to re-envision our own image.
The ground on which these classically painted figures recline begins with a simple evocation of floor and walls, which gradually yields to a variety of spaces shifting from realism to abstraction, incorporating elements of Klimt, Gerhardt Richter, Lyonel Feininger and Japanese ink drawings. - Hauser 2021
