For my culminating assignment, I really wanted to focus on a topic that drove me to create and that I was very passionate about. Obviously, being the strident feminist and proud "nasty woman" that I am, I chose to focus my culminating on discovering and exposing violence against women. (If you look back on my other projects, you will see that feminist issues in my art are kind of a running theme.)
What I really wanted to do was creating something short and impactful, I didn't want it to be to bogged down with words; I wanted the facts to speak for themselves. Because I'm not really that good of a painter or drawer, I immediately ruled out either of those types of artwork. While they did provide the quick, almost silent punch I was looking for, I wasn't confident in my ability to properly portray the serious issue of violence against women. Plus, I wanted to focus on several different aspects of violence against women and their simply wasn't enough time to create several decent paintings.
So, instead, I decided to go for zines. Zines are the perfect medium for a project like this, they're short, but able to pack a large punch; and give me the ability to tackle a different topic on each page. I'm a huge fan of mixed media (its one of my favourite art forms) and zines themselves are almost always used to discuss social and political issues, so I thought that this would be a perfect fit. Plus, I had already really liked the punk rock/ grunge look of zines, and I had already become fascinated with them after completing one for my #Canada150 project.
For the zine itself, I narrowed it down to four, full size pages, each covering a different topic. Because I am an intersectional feminist, and believe that different types of women can often face different types of issues, I wanted to include as many as possible. The four topics I decided on were: the missing and murdered indigenous women, online harassment and threats against women, the epidemic of murdered trans women throughout the world, as well as the release and protection of proven rapists.
Like I said earlier, the pages are pretty sparse, but that's the way I wanted them to be. I wanted nothing but the bare facts and most important information within the zine, because I think the facts and evidence send a larger impact then I ever could.
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| This page consisted of cutouts of threats that were sent on Twitter to women who dared to speak their mind, open their mouth, or, God forbid, have an opinion. *shudders* Oh the horror! (These are the tame ones by the way, there were a lot more that were even worse.) |
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| This one looks a lot better in person, I promise. Out of all of the pages, its really the most mixed media, and next time I really want to improve on that. I chose the pink lettering and the calligraphy to offset the message and exactly what this man has done. If you don't know, this is Brock Turner, and he is essentially a human trashcan. |
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| This page consisted of the faces of just a handful of the missing and murdered indigenous girls within Canada. It broke my heart when I saw just how many had gone missing. I could have had a hundred pages, and it still wouldn't fit all their faces. |
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| This page is more of a memorial than anything else. When I was reading through all of these women's names, I realized just how dangerous it is for transgender women out in the world. No news outlet ever covers their deaths, so I wanted their names to be here. So that they could be remembered. |
Near the beginning of the assignment, I was really dead set on what I wanted to call the zine. But Mrs. Rose said it was inappropriate, which while a fair point, I just want to ask how come the President of the United States is allowed to say it, without any consequences, but I'm not? *please note my sarcasm and irony, I'm being satirical, please don't fail me* (If you hadn't guessed by now, I wanted to call it "Grab Her By The...... well... you know.) But, I actually turned out to be a blessing because that is now surely going to be the name of my future punk rock feminist band, so I guess it all works out in the end. Instead, I decided to call it "Grab Back".
Yes, there is the obvious connection there, however, for the most part is has to do with the zine itself and not the troll the States just voted in as President. Instead, it has to do with women standing up for themselves, grabbing back the power that has been taken from them for centuries. To demand equal treatment and pay. To demand the right to make decisions about their own bodies. To demand that their attackers are held accountable. To reach and grab for equality, no matter how far, or how unreachable it seems.
