Cry, Die or Just Make Pies

This artwork is made solely from the artist's hair. The hair is hand-sewn into the canvas. Film images of fetishized-hyper-violent women served as the catalyst for a body of artworks I created in 2012-13. This series is a thoughtful examination of the relationship between violence, sexuality and femininity. Jean-Luc Godard posited that all he needed to make a movie was a girl and a gun; the same premise seems to be embraced by today’s filmmakers. There is a plethora of images in film which depict women as sexual creatures in hyper-feminine attire toting weapons. Commercial potential is maximized by the trifecta: phallic weapon, sexy woman, and promise of gratuitous violence, however, there is a discrepancy between the mythic image of the female crime fighter/criminal and society’s multifaceted reality. There is something visually disfigured about a woman holding a weapon. The sight runs counterintuitive to ‘mom & apple pie’. The veracity of the pose belies the notion of sexiness and the female figure becomes contorted with a quiet sense of impending violence.