Cover Anida Yoeu Ali, The White Mother (Photo: Gajah Gallery)
Anida Yoeu Ali, The White Mother (Photo: Gajah Gallery)
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It’s certainly not a man’s world anymore, especially not for these female artists
Womanhood. The all encompassing term which represents the emotions, attitudes, and stereotypes of women. Portraits of women have been the subject of much adoration over the years, take Girl with a Pearl Earring, Mona Lisa, and Portrait of Madame X, all depicting now iconic female figures. Revelled and captured in their moments of elegance and achievements, these painted women may be (a little) too out-of-reach for the normal girl next door.
The contemporary artist response to this is depicting women, in every sense of the word. Refusing to look at femininity through rose-tinted glasses, these artists capture the raw essence of what it is to be female.
1. Pinaree Sanpitak
Pinaree Sanpitak, Breast Vessel, 2014 (Photo: Yavuz Gallery)
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Thai artist Pinaree Sanpitak is a household name in the Thai art industry and is known for her vivid representation of the feminine body. Addressing womanhood by using the shape of breasts to represent the symbol of feminism, Sanpitak reflects on her first breast paintings as “a monument to womanhood, not just motherhood.”
Synonymous with her “breast stupas”, Sanpitak addresses the nurturing aspect of the feminine body, pitting the breast as something sacred, criticising its commodification and sexualisation.
2. Arahmaiani
Above Arahmaiani, Do Not Prevent the Fertility of the Mind (Photo: Singapore Art Museum)
Arahmaiani, Do Not Prevent the Fertility of the Mind (Photo: Singapore Art Museum)
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Placing her creative juices in motion, Bandung-born artist Arahmaiani is a household name in her home country of Indonesia. She is primarily inspired by contemporary politics, violence, and the female body in relation to her own identity. These activist sentiments are undoubtedly present in her works, where she combines artistic creativity with the female identity.
Arahmaiani unabashedly criticises the birth control policies set in place by the patriarchy, most vividly (and daringly) represented her work, Do Not Prevent the Fertility of the Mind.
3. Bharti Kher
Above Installation view of Bharti Kher: Matter, exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery (Photo: Vancouver Art Gallery)
Installation view of Bharti Kher: Matter, exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery (Photo: Vancouver Art Gallery)
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Hailed as one of India’s bestselling female artists, Bharti Kher is no stranger to creating stunning works of art. Famed for her expressive and thought-provoking sculptures, Kher uses her hand to capture women at their most vulnerable.
Six Women depicts life-sized sitting female sculptures cast from real women, to which Kher identifies as a platform for the discussion of ideas around gender whose unapologetic figures trigger a novel way of perceiving the female body. Evidently, to Kher, the bodily feminine experience is best represented through her sculptures, challenging perceptions of the female body in contemporary culture.
4. Anida Yoeu Ali
Anida Yoeu Ali, The White Mother (Photo: Gajah Gallery)
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Cambodian performance artist Anida Yoeu Ali draws predominantly on the themes of motherhood when it comes to creating avant-garde pieces that are provocative and daring. Ali dons a white gown and walks through the streets of Fukuoka, Japan with her child for her work, White Mother, showcasing the sense of invisibility and loneliness as a mother in the public eye.
Consulting the opinions of Japanese mothers, a sense of alienation and displacement among mothers in society was sieved out. The mother’s hyper-visibility in Ali’s performance thus makes the invisible stand out, critiquing the needless scrutiny that comes with caring for a child in public.
5. Lee Bul
Above Lee Bul, Cyborg Red & Cyborg Blue (Photo: Lee Bul Art)
Lee Bul, Cyborg Red & Cyborg Blue (Photo: Lee Bul Art)
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Known for her performance, sculpture, and installation work, South Korean artist Lee Bul recounts her experiences of gender inequality for her creative inspiration. Many of her works focuses on the marginalisation and oppression of women, forming a critique on the patriarchal system.
On monsters and cyborgs, Lee utilises aspects of a utopian society to effectively narrate the merging of body and technology. The sexualised sculptures heavily influenced by mega investigate the male gaze on the female body, effectively interrogating gendered representation.
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