Attempting to Arrange Femininity: A Retrospective

The latest art project we have been working on in class is theme-based oil painting. However, before you can oil paint, you regrettably need to find a subject (disgusting, I know :/). The theme I have chosen for my project is "superficial femininity." Although this is an abstract theme-based piece, it also hits home for me and my identity. In the past, long before the name Theo was so ungraciously given to me by a series of unfortunately nerdy coincidences, I tried to be the perfect, feminine daughter for my parents. I hope that in time, this piece will properly convey the discomfort and eeriness of grasping at straws of womanhood, both to outside viewers and the person trying to hold onto femininity.

Although I was initially leaning toward a closed composition, this fabric I found in the bin matched my colour pallette and sense of fraying at the edges, and it convinced me to open it up. I chose a dark background to show contrast for the tulle and light pinks as well as portray shadow. I found it important to focus both on the negative space and the height of the objects in relation to each other to create both an appealing and unsettling arrangement.