I did these series of photographs for a number reasons one being to get used to my new digital camera and to working in a proper studio where i had control over the lighting and also in order to look at the way objects are gendered in society. this interests me also as my work tends to start with an object and i have been looking for new ones to re excite my work... however from these photos and a seminar on dualism i have now begun to think about it differently..... i am currently reading Neil Gaiman book Fragile Things and i am begining to refocus back on the body as the sourch of my work... re reading old work statements ect.

i am looking away from feminism for the time being and back into writers that i enjoy as i feel the strain of trying to decide on the politic of my work is making my not want to do any... gosh im blunt.
i do however feel that all of this was nessisary in order for me to 'see' the dualistic manner of gender as a construct but i dont feel that to be central to me at the moment- more something to be aware of really.

at the moment i am on erasmus in utrecht - loving it by the way.... im thinking about making a small artists book- im really excited to see what a printing process can bring to my work. i have always been very interested in the idea of the book as a space... perhaps i can combine it with the fairy tale... in many ways my work is loping back to last years... im thinking about imagined space more- or rather the perception of space- a story can be a space... a dolls house is a very different space to its owner, especially as time goes by... i had a toy farm made from cardboard- it was really amazing... im interested in a sort of dialog. stories around objects- more personal then mediated. creating personal space is not necessisarily about instilation- it can be small... to me though i enjoy a air of fragility - like memories, scents... hidden chambers- things that fold back on themselves ... that take time to get to know-navagate... like people.

at the moment im looking at the strenght and preserverance of this fragility. as gaiman says ' As i write this now, it occurs to me that the peculiarity of most things we think of as fragile is how tough they truely are. there were tricks we did with eggs, as children, to show how very strong they really were, tiny load-bearing marble halls; ...hearts may break, but hearts are the toughest of muscles able to pump for a lifetime seventy times a minute, and scarcely falter along the way. even dreams the most delicate and intangible of things, can prove remarkably difficult to kill.'

My most recent painting work is based around the ideas of fairytales, childrens books. I have been looking at there roles in establishing gender roles in there audience, gender steriotypes really in a way. what do these stories say to young girls today... it tends to be left up to a prince to rescue the women in these books... maybe young girls need to be thought more self reliance.?? these series of paintings-drawings are just the begining of me thinking about gender role conditioning... the above is based on snow white.

This one is based on sleeping beauty... i think i want to write my own fairytale for children, where women are self reliant and men can show emotions- the blade does after all cut both ways.
I like these images as they help me in starting to think about fairy tales and illustrated books in a different less structured manner- the writings of Kathy Atker is fundimental to this.

This is little red riding hood. in my work i have tried where appropriate to use process's that would have been- are viewed as female crafts rather then the expressionistic male centered view on art. I have tried to challange both materials and scale, using paper works and sewing, stitching, collage... these are very gender charged material process's, even the process of decorating is seen in a very steriotyped female light.

This above piece is based loosly around the idea of rapunzel. In many of the pieces i used things like nail enamel and make up again to challenge or shine light on pre concieved notions of gender and art.

On the casting front, i set out to work with chocolate after reading The Edible Women- see earlier posts for details on mould-i think i will continue with this, ill re back it by redoing the plaster support and then i thing i will start looking at cake decoration, alongside this i hope to do a clear resin cast through gradually layering the resin...

I sapose in a way i am looking at the role of the female body, self adornment, steriotypical gender labeled roles...... each material dictates how the piece will be read and i find this liberating as the work can open itself up and potentially be about anything.

On the book front i was thinking about the whole aspect of shame based around the female body- menstration, arousal, masterbation... reading Nancy Friday really brought this to light for me. the importance of masterbation to a womans self confidencepotentially is huge. as nancy says herself- it is hard to feel good about yourself when you thing of your genatles as a sewer.

as a reaction to the lack of appraisal for the remale genatelia i made this book- again using gender steriotyped processes where appropriate.

I am interested in processes that have a rich gendered history for momen- such as quilting, wieving, homemaking, lace, crochet, sewing.... things that were and are also done by men but that have always been associated with women- i think it is more reasonable to use a language and a history that is already existant in society as a bases to be built upon- whether it be through appraisal or undermining it...

I really enjoyed the whole element of handy craft in these pieces

Even the medium of water colour is a very gendered one in the history of artI quite like the connoctations of the material- chocolate in this cast. the material really dictated how it is viewed.

i wanted to really elevate banal day to day life as a women. i really like the recoil these pieces get. its strange the whole over riding idea of bodily fluids as dirty. there is such a stigma aroung menstration... it seems to be something women attach alot of shame to.

in some way - like the vagina monologes- i feel if we lifted the veil and were more open about these things it would be for the best- for one we would know what was 'normal'. it would be healthier also for society- it would also irradicate alot of stigma- however im sad to say that alot of the feed back ive gotten from women my age has been- 'thats not very ladylike Amy' and 'youll never find a man to put up with all that stuff''

I like the idea of the
my plans for future work include altering childrens toys, more photography, photography of objects as finished pieces. a childrens book. writing stories, toy play houses but with a new modern family... maybe as a video... role play.. polly pockets.. making toys relavent for kids in the modern world. an explore your body book for both sexes... i like the play between sexuality, gender roles and the conditioning of children through books and toys.... i want to read more about the female crafts movement, lesbian art.. gender trouble... fairy tales.