2) Feminist artists have often used their own body as a site of discourse and meaning. Why do you think self-portraits are so important to women-made art?
I think self-portraits are a great way to stop and think about the unique beauty of your own body, which is something that is easy to forget about in a world of advertisements that promotes(pretty much) a single image of beauty.
I was thinking about this the other day when I saw PJ Harvey play. She was so intense and powerful and her body became so "ugly" looking while she was screaming - I was so moved to watch a woman artist be in her body that way in front of hundreds of people. I have been on the lookout for ladies who allow intensity of being to overtake them in public since then, and fine art is one of those great places for such things. John Berger writes about how women are always in their bodies and above them, watching themselves, and that this is why they are rarely great artists - I'm not sure if I agree but I think it's great when I can definitely feel a woman leaving that self-conciously behind in art.
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I think self-portraits are a great way to stop and think about the unique beauty of your own body, which is something that is easy to forget about in a world of advertisements that promotes(pretty much) a single image of beauty.
I was thinking about this the other day when I saw PJ Harvey play. She was so intense and powerful and her body became so "ugly" looking while she was screaming - I was so moved to watch a woman artist be in her body that way in front of hundreds of people. I have been on the lookout for ladies who allow intensity of being to overtake them in public since then, and fine art is one of those great places for such things. John Berger writes about how women are always in their bodies and above them, watching themselves, and that this is why they are rarely great artists - I'm not sure if I agree but I think it's great when I can definitely feel a woman leaving that self-conciously behind in art.
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