Fine Particles of Solid Matter

Author/Artist Name

Lu ColbyFollow

Files

Academic Level at Time of Creation

Senior

Date of Creation

Fall 2019

Artist Statement

Today, women make up almost half of the labor force in the United States at 46.5%. Yet statistics show that compared to men, women spent more than twice as much time preparing food, and doing interior cleaning, and over three times as much time doing laundry as men did on an average day. Even with these domestic obligations, women are still pressured to pursue a higher education, advance in their careers, and be self sustaining. With these Second Shift expectations, women in American society today feel more pressure than ever to find the balance between domestic roles and progressive philosophy of feminine positions. As I navigate my own roles with domesticity, I find myself falling into these same dynamics much like generations before me.

I dissect and experiment with these gender stereotypes by adding characteristics of traditional woman’s work such as needle work, colors, and household cleaning tools in attempt to question these given roles to women in American society. Using site specific materials such as dust and sweepings from my home with household objects, I create narrative within my work for people to find a correlation between their own experiences with domestic gender roles and my own.

Inspired by the works of artists such as Kate Gilmore and Regina Jose Galindo, my pieces have varied in mediums such as sculpture, printmaking, installations, and performance pieces but all have common characteristics of multiplicity and repetition. The use of repetition and multiplicity throughout my work speaks to these individual moments and experiences as a whole while also reflecting on the methodical and repetitive ways women conduct tasks in their own home such as daily chores and personal hygiene.

Advisor/Mentor

Nicole Hand-Bryant; Chris Lavery; Antje Gamble

Description

The exhibition touches upon gender stereotypes by adding characteristics of traditional woman’s work in attempt to question involuntarily given roles to women in American society. Using site specific materials such as dust and sweepings from my home with household objects, I create narrative within my work for people to find a correlation between their own experiences with domestic gender roles and my own. With an emphasis in both printmaking and sculpture, the work takes on both 2D and 3D forms with sound installation as well. The pieces speak to the sometimes overwhelming and cyclic nature of keeping house and personal hygiene.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Recommended Citation

Colby, Lu, "Fine Particles of Solid Matter" (2019). B.F.A. Practicum Exhibition (ART 498). 48.
https://digitalcommons.murraystate.edu/art498/48