WOMANHOOD, Date

Acrylic & Oil on Stretched Canvas

Size

Original Price & Link

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Woman are walking contradictions. We are admired and shamed for what we believe to be our strengths. Having a period is a beautiful thing. It allows for the creation of life. However, as men and woman we tend to be disgusted by the subject. Why is it ok to be proud working mothers then scolded for taking time to check on our children? This is very similar to our thought on taking control of our body images. At first we can be seen as strong but if we take one step to far our actions then become inappropriate and sexualized. As a thick black woman in love with her curves if I decide to do a plus shoot I am admired. If that shoot shows off my proud curves I am then scorned.

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This piece womanhood is a depiction of a woman sitting proudly with her strong legs exposed but then crossing them due to shame of exposing what's between them. The red dress is representative of our love hate relationship with our menstrual cycle.

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Society plays a huge role in how we as woman see ourselves. When will we allow our own feelings about ourselves stand stronger. When will we cease putting the opinions of others above our own?

 

What started as an accident became and experiment in this piece. As artists we are taught to use acrylic as an under layer to an oil painting due to the possibility of the paint cracking. However, after seeing that result I fell in love with the visual. For the legs I used the acrylic on top of the oil and it made more of a believable skin texture that appeared more organic than if I would have painted the texture in myself.