Fighting Back

This week, I’d like to do things a little differently with my post. One of my classmates and fellow fine arts major, James, has been hard at work on a very cool project for the past few weeks. I thought I would give you all some insight to what another fine arts major is working on, plus his project relates directly to the Women & Gender Studies side of my blog. For the project, James transferred an image that he designed on a linoleum panel, cut away the parts of the linoleum that weren’t the image. Being in his class, I followed James’ progress with cutting away the pieces of linoleum and I can only imagine the work that went into it. I believe he mentioned spending around 12 hours total on the cutting alone! After all of that, he rolled ink onto the linoleum, put canvas on top of it, and rolled it through the press. This is the result:

James has written an artist statement on his work:

Society has taught us from day one take what you want by any means necessary. It teaches us that the exploitation of others is just a way of life. This can be see all over but most gruesomely is the way we are taught to treat women. Advertising has turned them into objects who’s function is purely the action of sex. They have become walking eye candy for men and nothing more. Women who do not fit a specific body type or image are rejected as even being women. Politicians are dehumanizing them further by attempting to strip away their rights for regulating their own bodies. This is rape culture. A disease spreading world wide that humiliates and degrades every single woman on the face of the earth. With such disturbing mentality bred in a society unwilling to question the mush they are being spoon fed, it is no wonder that most women will be sexually assaulted or even raped in their life times. Not only do these women have to deal with the most fundamental and horrifying violation of their rights, but they are also being blamed for being the victims of rape. Let me say that again. Society blames the victims, not the perpetrator of a rape…

My summer in Philly was filled with meeting traveling homeless punks, also known as crusties. They hopped train to train up and down the east coast fully enjoying life. Some of these travelers were the happiest people I will probably ever meet. But without fail, every single female that I met had a story about rape. Now the average woman has it hard if they are raped, but a homeless woman has even fewer resources to call on. This is simply outrageous. Every woman, no matter what her economic situation, deserves support and aid when they have been the victim of rape.

So with this patch I attempted to do a lot of things. First is the popular image of the slingshot revolutionary used by Avskum, a swedish crust band. Instead of having my figure shielded by a bandanna I revealed the face since no one should feel ashamed to share their story or support this cause. Fear of identification only perpetuates what society has created. I also changed the figure to a woman to more directly relate to the subject matter. Though men are raped, the majority of victims are female. The stories I heard from the crust punks affected me deeply which is why I roughed up the canvases rubbing them in dirt and staining them with various liquids to replicate how most of their clothing looked like and how they themselves felt. As a patch this piece becomes an easily transported billboard to spread the word. I honestly couldn’t care less if people are interested in buying a patch for themselves, my goal is to bring this problem to the world and force it into their faces. This is something that needs to be talked about and not hidden in the dark.

Being in class with James, I had the privilege of following along with most of his printmaking process, watching the productions of his patches, and hearing the drive behind the work first hand. I love the idea of creating art that is not only meant to send a message, but that is meant to be shared and spread so that the message is as well. On top of that idea, the message itself is a topic that I feel strongly about: women everywhere are victims of rape, and nothing will change unless people everywhere fight against rape culture. I believe that art should not be simply aesthetically pleasing and should not just be for display. I am proud to have bought one of James’ patches!

If you’re interesting in buying a patch or have any inquiries about it, email James at levandedoda@gmail.com