The leaves of the persimmon have lovely autumn colour at th emoment- usually it is not quite as briliant as this but then this year it has not had any fruit.
Feeling a bit disgruntled today and whilst hand stitching on the net and squares piece outside in the sunshine nutted out the The Advantages of Being a Woman Textile Artist inspired of course by the Guerilla Girls - so here is my take on it:
The advantages of being a woman textile artist!
Work without selling your work except as a tourist curiousity to other women and an occasional knowing man
Never ever having to be in shows with men
Having an escape from the fibre textile world to hold half a dozen jobs to pay for the printing of postcards ( to sell because no one wants to buy textiles but do want to have the pretty pictures of the textile work as long as they don’t have to touch it)and building websites and traveling to seminars that tell you how to be a successful artist run by organizations that get the government grants originally meant for artists or fringe desert dwellers
Having the opportunity to use your skills as a textile artist for the creation of family heirlooms and baby blankets for near and dear family
Not having to choke on big fat cigars for that would make the textiles too smelly- and not working in Italian suits- what is wrong with bog coats or Bedouin tents that hide all manner of gravitational age manifestations that Italian suits don’t.
Never being stuck in a tenured teaching position- textiles belongs to the underclass of grannies and misguided women who sit in corners quietly stitching away at family heirlooms…
Having more time to stitch when your mate dumps you for someone younger- stitch the bitch! And thus create feminist subversive stitched family heirlooms.
Never being included in any revised versions of art history for all the work is still hidden away in the closets and dowry boxes because they are family heirlooms.
Having to undergo the embarrassment of having the length of your stitches and their overall neatness judged as indicative of your genius as a textile artist.
Getting your picture in an art magazine as some kind of modern day version of Whistler’s mother (who does not appear to know how to stitch) by sitting and myopically stitching in a rocking chair- or otherwise being well disguised in the desert as a Bedouin tent.
©2005 Dijanne Cevaal
Anyway my Print Gocco stuff arrived but the fabric I ordered last week hasn't- I have metres and metres of fabric to dye and dwindling time in which to do it.
4 comments:
Stitch the bitch...gave me a deep gut belly laugh like I've not had in a long time...I'm in tears I'm cracking up...that was hilarious and unexpected.
Dear Dijanne,
I agree with your comments about women being textile artists...I think its easy to get bitter and angry about the lack of respect and interest we are shown by the art world in general, but its not really that helpful to anyone. I think that all we can do is keep doing what we do to the highest standard possible and keep putting it out there and gradually bit by bit things will change, perhaps not in our lifetime but I think they will change. Your work is so beautiful, there really is nothing left to do but admire it. Keep going!
Very funny! The persimmon leaves are GORGEOUS. I want them.
the photo is WONDERFUL!!!!
ttyl
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