| The
Feminine Mystique is, of course, a reference to the landmark
Betty Friedan book. I liked the idea of joining the sexual energy
of these model portraits with overly political and feminist titles.
It's a good thing for an artist to take different imagery and bring
them together. Will they fit together? Will they conflict with each
other? Of course, it helps if the artwork itself is good. In the
case of this piece, I'd say it's great; this is one of the two or
three portraits that perfectly captured what I was trying to create.
I
wasn't trying to be coy or ironic with the title; the modern reliance
on "irony" is something I deeply dislike. It's dishonest
and emotionally distant. I would suspect that this is how your sensibilities
evolve after endless exposure to Renoir and Takahata movies.
As
an aside to all you Betty Friedan fans (which should be all of you),
I suggest you find "The Fountain of Age." Written in 1993,
this volume addresses the ideas and stereotypes of aging in our
artificial, "youth"-oriented society. Sound like anything
else she wrote? I discovered this book in a college class, and highly
recommend it.
The
portrait is really good; I was trying to copy a certain modern artist
who fused photography with surrealism and pop; I can't remember
his name, but one portrait features a man in business suit, with
a mushroom cloud instead of a head. I liked the idea of just making
something a little abstract, and playing with the colors and lines. |
