Students present feminist issues through fiber art

Artists expressed feminist, religious and sexual issues in Memorial Union.

By Jasmin James

Published Oct. 6, 2009

On Friday, the Missouri Students Association and Graduate Professional Council Craft Studio presented their fourth art gallery exhibit this semester, hosted by three undergraduate art students.

The exhibit, titled "Feisty Female Fibers: An Exhibition of Contemporary Feminist Art" featured the works of Mary Sandbothe, Tricia Johnson and Danielle Moser, using all fiber materials, which include synthetic and man-made materials to create projects based on three ideas about feminism, Craft Studio Coordinator Kelsey Hammond said.

"Well, there were three artist, all working in the fibers realm," Hammond said. "Each had their own medium and statements, all commenting on, in some way or another, femininity and feminism, issues of womanhood, those sort of things."

The room was arranged so each artist would have her own section of the room. The esoteric, vivid and unconventional art covered the walls and featured artist statements, explaining the inspiration and ideas behind each work.

Danielle Moser, whose three features included "Feminine Products," "Cunt" and "Cunt: Revisited" opened up thoughts behind the use of feminine products and how women can sometimes feel burdened, self-conscious and even trapped by these necessities.

She used one type of sanitary napkin in particular and created a range of how they looked "during menstruation," each increasing with dramatization, color, glitz and boldness. She added glitter, vibrant red, sparkles and shiny fabric, to in essence, distract the viewer away from what they were actually seeing, which was a maxi pad with wings. The last one had "Sew me shut" sewn on the seat of the pad.

Controversy spiked after her completion of "Cunt," a work featuring a woman, crossed legged, bending down, showing her vagina sewn on a handkerchief. She entered an art contest and was rejected due its "striking" nature.

Artist Tricia Johnson said Moser's art motivated the project.

"'Cunt' started this whole thing," Johnson said.

Moser agreed that the piece was a starting point for the project.

"My work is very much inspired by the Vagina Monologues," Moser said.

Johnson's work, featuring a mixture of black and white bondage photography and embroidery on shiny nylon fabric, explored other ideas of femininity. She also had a keepsake box, titled "Secret Box", which held her personal journal.

"Most of the work I'd been doing showed intimacy," Johnson said. "Embroidery makes things feminine. So I took a very intense, emotionally charged, possibly vulgar (subject) and by embroidery, expressed femininity."

The third artist, Mary Sandbothe, who had the most pieces on display, had a range of different types of art, ideas and philosophy behind her work.

"Drifty Laundry," was an idea inspired by her own personal experiences. The concept behind it was to show the force religion has on sexuality and ultimately, feminism.

Statements were sewn on the underwear, such as "Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed pure for God will judge the adultered and all the sexually immoral" and "It takes 10 years for a person who has had premarital sex to be able to have marital sex without guilt."

Her other piece, placed at the center of the room, was a pair of underwear hung on a thorny branch, with the face of Jesus sewn on the front, was titled "Jesus Panties" which again, tied into her ideals of religious impacts on feminism.

"My inspiration was growing up in a Christian conservative family," said Sandbothe.

Graduate student Nabil El Jaouhari said the work was completely feminine.

"Every single one of the works are very intimate," Eljaouhari said. "A beautiful variation of fabric. Original, sexual, very from the inside out. It is purely woman talking about purely woman."

Professor Josephine Stealey spoke highly of the artists' personal character.

"I think they show remarkable maturity in their work," Stealey said. "One of the most professional undergraduate show's I've ever seen."