Concept: For my public art project, my original idea was to make a series of images that combat sexism in public spaces, to bring awareness to women and men alike about the pervasive issue that affects women on a day to day basis. Whether it’s subtle sexism (that’s hard to protest because it’s so ‘normalized’) or blatantly offensive sexism, it’s a valid issue that oppresses all women (in varying configurations and in varying degrees of intensity with the intersections of race, class, ability, etc) and it needs to be addressed. Even though the concept of intersectionality in feminism has been around for decades, it only seems to have made it into mainstream debate in the past few years or so. I want to fight for women’s right to her space and I want to take it to the streets, where harassment occurs frequently. Ideally, I want to expand this project further and take women’s voices and faces to create a broader and more inclusive presence for women in an environment where they are so often made to feel uncomfortable and unsafe.
Process/Materials: For my materials, I used pen and ink to sketch out the illustrations and then colored them in digitally. Lastly, I used adhesive spray to stick them on surfaces in the city.
Existing in Public Spaces: I put the images up in places where I felt like catcalling often occurred (in my personal experience), as well as consumer advertisements that objectified + hyper-sexualized the female body. I went around the East Village and used adhesive spray on flat surfaces (mailboxes, walls, advertisement posters) to stick them on. Ideally, I want to print a set of 100 and stick them everywhere in the city so that more people see it (especially with the placement working in alignment with the male gaze) and for it to ultimately open a broader discussion about how we perceive sex and the female form.
Let’s talk about gender-based street harassment. Let’s talk about how it happens to all women and female-identifying identities. Let’s talk about how it makes you feel. Let’s talk about how it makes me feel unsafe going to classes or going home. Let’s talk about how it makes me feel like my body belongs to the eyes of the men who devour me with every step I take. Let’s talk about change. Let’s talk about an end. Let’s. Talk.
