When requested to ‘consume a book,’ I was drawn to the work of Artemisia Gentileschi due to her conquests in the art world as a female painter. I chose to study the book ‘Artemisia Gentileschi Around 1622, The Shaping and Reshaping of an Artistic Identity’ by Mary D. Garrard, an American Art Historian, considered to be ‘one of the founders of feminist art theory.’ This book provides a deep insight into the artist, rather than placing focus on her disturbing past of which consumed her career.

In a male dominated art world, Gentileschi was considered to be incapable of any artistic originality as she was a woman. She was known as the ‘famous rape victim’ due to her subjection of sexual exploitation from a male superior- of which provided a twisted fascination with her artwork under male speculation. Garrard claims that, “for the male viewer, it was the painter more than the painting that titillated. And the story of her rape would only have added spice” (pg 109). Her art was considered to be a thing of beauty and sexuality as her audience would project her experiences and her beauty onto her work.

Despite Gentileschi’s many hardships in the art world, it is overlooked how she resisted gender classification throughout her life, working entirely alone; with very little help to gain a place in the masculine art market.

Bibliography:

‘Artemisia Gentileschi Around 1622, The Shaping and Reshaping of an Artistic Identity’, Mary D. Garrard, University of California Press, 2001

From the passport brief, I began to experiment with line drawing onto acetate in order to portray the transparency of my emotions. From this, I found that the way I had used the pen in a disorganised manner does not capture the way I handle my own feelings. Although, from grappling with colour behind the acetate sheets, I found that the use of  sickly green tones craft accurate connotations of the way I deal with disfunction.

From these findings, I took inspiration from Lucian Freud due to his representation of emotional existence; rather than focusing on the physical. So, using oil paint onto primed paper, I painted a portrait of myself in sickly hues of green and yellow; reflecting my struggle towards self-acceptance. The very precise nature of the brush strokes enhances my need for order and perfection, a contributing factor to the sickening colouring of the painting. It is also interesting that in the painting my eyes cannot reach the gaze of the viewer, hence exemplifying my apprehension to connect with others. Also, the fact that the gaze points upwards suggests a sense of searching for an answer from a perhaps celestial force of nature above humankind.

On the next page, I have drawn an erratic pen drawing of my dog in order to portray his excitable behaviour and innocent naivety, of which provides a sense of love and security in my life.