From the start, when I was just hearing about the project I knew it was going to be one I enjoyed, as all parts of the project had an aspect I’m interested in. The projects driving question was, How can we use conceptual art to portray feminist ideas and their influence on society? This question seemed daunting at first and if I’m being honest I couldn’t really picture how any art I made could portray these ideas. What helped me the most to create my final product was the use of the novel we were reading. 

Here’s a sneak peak at my final creation…

There were 4 choices of books to read, we were able to rank which ones we were most interested in by giving some explanation as to why, you can read mine here. My top choice was called “Only Ever Yours” written by Louise O’Neill. In the description provided by the teacher it was considered one of the easier books to comprehend, and I agree with that statement. However when I was creating my list I really debated putting it first because I wanted a challenge as I know I am a very capable reader. In the end, it was the book I was most interested in, the plot had caught my attention and it was a peice I would read on my own time outside of school. So I ended up going with interest over challenge, and for this project I’m glad I did. 

Early on in the book my group (Erin, Quinn, and Josh) and I noticed strong themes starting to build. Those ideas were reflected in each of our backgrounders for the portion of the book we were reading each week. The backgrounders were a way for us to focus and direct our processing while we were reading. One of the topics I found harder to write about in my backgrounder was authors craft. I think this was because I didn’t have a good understanding of the expectations on what I was supposed to be creating. It took me longer to complete as I hadn’t know exactly what to look for while I was reading the set passage for that week. By the end, after I had talked to a couple peers, I had a better understanding of what I needed to complete, and I found it easy enough to go back through the book and scan for points I could delve further into. On the other side of things, I found one of the easiest backgrounders to complete the questioning one. I think a big factor in that had to do with the fact that this was the first backgrounder I completed. That meant it was created at the very start of the book, when the plot and characters are still in the developing phase, which can be confusing and lead to many questions. One of my favourite questions I wrote was, How far off do you think the eves thoughts are from girls today? Now if you haven’t read the book that question is likely to make little to no sense, but if you have I hope you can think of an answer that isn’t just surface level. Not a simple one or two worded answer, but one that that connectes the two worlds, their similarities and where they differ. 

I think to a degree a lot of my work stemmed from that question. This wasn’t a purposeful choice, I think it naturally happened as it was a topic that caught my interest. When I discussed that question within my group I got the sense that there was some difference of opinion but generally we were on the same page. However I knew that there were many other students I could have talked to who would have had a different answer simply because there are people who are unaware of the hardship many women face today, specifically with their body image. As we continued reading the book this point became more and more evident to me and it was something that I was really interested in and cared about. It is also what lead me to my final product… 

When it came down to actually making my art peice I was actually having a really hard time at first. I consider myself a creative person and I really enjoy doing art outside of school. I was especially excited for this peice of art because the focus was conceptual art and I have never been very big on realistic art when creating it myself. My art has always been more abstract and about the flow and feeling of it. That’s why I found it particularly annoying when I got stuck in my creative process. All I knew at the begining was that I wanted to use a mirror. I felt it could be a really interesting way for people to start to understand the idea of body image in an interactive way. 

From there I referred back to my notes that I had been taking while reading the book. Something I did throughout the entire novel was not just highlight and take note on things useful to my backgrounder that week, but also highlight anything I thought was shocking or interesting, especially in regards to how these young girls were feeling and reacting to the environment they were growing up in. These notes are what helped me complete my final product, as I felt the characters words, internal and external, were powerful and impactful. I also thought they were often very similar to thoughts young girls in the real world think, and that’s when I had my idea for what I wanted to create. 

I was going to use my full length mirror, and cover it in these young girls words. So while you were looking at your own reflection you also had to read and gain an understanding of what many girls think and feel when they themself look in the mirror. Because for you, looking in the mirror may be a simple everyday task, but there are some who find it a great struggle just to simply look at their reflection. 

Obviously the idea I had to start wouldn’t end up as my final product. As I mentioned earlier when I do art, it is all about the flow and the emotion put into it. That is what shifts and changes a peice and allows it to become more than it ever was to start. That is exactly what happened with this peice. It turned into something I am really proud of, and I think it does a really good job of expressing the points I wanted to get across. The final product was a silhouette drawn onto the full length mirror, with words and quotes drawn from the book covering the inside of it. 

Beside my art peice at the exhibition I had to have an artist statement. It is a simple explanation of the process and the meaning behind the art. It gives a little more detail than I have given here, so if you like to read more click here. 

One final peice of the project I put together was the slideshow that played at the entrance of my groups area on the exhibition night. The purpose of the slideshow was just to give some context as to the theme and ideas our section of the exhibition was portraying. If you want to go through this slideshow you can do so here.

As a whole I think this project was a great learning opportunity for all the students in my class. As a topic that isn’t talked about or recognized as often I was glad we were able to complete an entire project focussed on it. I found it an especially important topic given that our class is majority male. I know personally I was able to learn more and gain a better understanding, I just hope others were able to do the same.