“Where’s it all going? What are we fucking up to, if anything, that we all think is so important?”
(Sarah Lucas, 1996)
I first came across Sarah Lucas's work during my textile block and was captured by her highly provocative work. I was introduced to her because of her use of furniture in some of her earlier works which portrayed visual puns of a sexual nature. My work within the textile block didn't represent bawdy or explicit representations of the human form, instead I linked the two due to the use of furniture. Whilst Lucas uses everyday objects to create a piece of art, I created an everyday item out of a piece of fashion.
Lucas is an English artist and is a part of the Young British Artists who first emerged during the 1990s and her work has been likened to other artists such as Francis Bacon and Damien Hirst. To the left is a self portrait of herself called 'Fighting Fire with Fire'. This piece of work was part of a series of twelve photographic self portraits in which she challenges the stereotypes of gender and sexuality. We see her in a masculine 'macho' pose yet she still looks defiantly feminine. Another one of her pieces is to the right. 'Mamum', a 3D piece is made out of pairs of tights which are filled creating the image of numerous womens breasts. This not only is not a surprise, as Lucas's work is usually quite controversial, but also gives a sense of solid femininity. Tights are used daily by women and to be filled to create a solid structure gives a sense of rigidness and power. Nevertheless, the complete structure is organic. Not only is the piece flowing, the limited palette of natural colours could be said to represent an earthy well grounded woman of the 21st century. A woman which Lucas repeatedly tries to portray.
Collectively I like Lucas's style, she not only addresses issues such as misogyny whilst criticising narrow minded thoughts, she also creates stimulating ideas - her audience can interpret, reflect and ask questions which arise in contemporary society.
Burrows, W (2009) Sarah Lucas [Online]. Available: http://wayneburrows.wordpress.com/sarah-lucas/ [21/10/13]
Stonard, JP (2000) Sarah Lucas, Artist biography [Online]. Available: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/sarah-lucas-2643 [21/10/13]
Image: http://pfeiferthompson.squarespace.com/storage/jointhebigpicture-sarahLucas-04.jpg?__SQUARESPACE_CACHEVERSION=1350905523918) [21/10/13]
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