Cynthia Mailman, an American artist, educator and feminist activist became a part of a collaborative exhibition from 1974-1978, called The Sister Chapel.
I am looking at Mailman's work because it is an example of how another contemporary female artist has used the topic of Gods, Goddesses and religion in order to form her own narrative, her own self-portraits, and used it to question society.None of the artists I have looked at so far matches this essence of using religious or mythical figures as impersonations within my work as Mailman does.
The Sister Chapel aimed to give women a significant role in social western history and to praise women as figures to admire and look up to. The collaboration piece consisted of eleven tall canvases of women's portraits, along with a large ceiling mural. Gloria Feman Orenstein, feminist art critic and scholar, believed that the role of the ceiling was to mimic the Sistine Chapel, in which one can find a large painting of various religious figures, who happen to be mainly men, and that this helped create equality as there was now a woman's equivalent (Orenstein, pg. 12, 1976).
Mailman's piece for this installation was a large painting of God as a woman, in which she used herself as the muse. She painted her own face on the body of this newfound religious figure, making it then a self-portrait as God. "Mailman chose to paint God as a woman because she felt a Sister Chapel should have a sister God, simple as that. But more so, she saw flaws in the "unprovable suggestion" that God was a man. And having a male God meant there would always be a man in power, no matter the strides mortal women made." (Silive.com). The way in which Mailman painted such a figure is incredibly important, as she has given this female God an enormous sense of feminine power. The low angle draws the eye to follow up her legs, which then meet her visible labia and pubic hair - unapologetically visible on her naked body. This contrasts to how men historically painted women, as the painting was not created to comfort the male gaze, but challenge it, and the notion of the 'perfect woman'. If she is God, then this natural woman is perfection, surely? Mailman has rebelled against the ideologies of the perfect women that man has created, removing a mask that women often felt the need to wear - for in a patriarchal society, from the 14th century to arguably now, women had a better chance of success if they met the requirements and ideologies of the men running the organisations, artistic or not. After the eyes follow up the legs of God, we can see that she has a lack of navel - for after all, if she is the creator of all things why would she need one? We are then met with a challenging stare from the face of Mailman herself. She seems to question your beliefs and what you take as truth, but also an entire societies vision of God as Man.
Some women in the 50's and 60's felt the need to hide their femininity rather than using it as a tool for praise. This is because if they were to show typical femininity, such as domestic themes, techniques such as sewing and even the colour pink, they would be seen as unprofessional. As a result, women's art could become rather masculine in theme. In this painting, Mailman has rejected this also - she does not hide away the female body - something often thought of as very feminine (although we must be careful between the separation of body and genitalia, and gender - according to Butler gender being a construct based off certain traits that are given the term either 'masculine' or 'feminine').
Cheny, Faxon and Russo state in their book Self-Portraits by Women Painters; “the female self-portrait is no longer a mask, but rather a revelation, a sharing of dark journeys of the spirit and the courage of the quest” (Cheney, Faxon, Russo, 2000, pg.188), which I think is adequate when reviewing this work, especially as the whole installation. These women, including Mailman, have come together to create optimism, hopefulness, and rebellion for the future. The work is not as known as I believe it should be, as it truly does signify a woman's fight for equality that we still face, but still fight, today.
I am looking at Mailman's work because it is an example of how another contemporary female artist has used the topic of Gods, Goddesses and religion in order to form her own narrative, her own self-portraits, and used it to question society.None of the artists I have looked at so far matches this essence of using religious or mythical figures as impersonations within my work as Mailman does.
The Sister Chapel aimed to give women a significant role in social western history and to praise women as figures to admire and look up to. The collaboration piece consisted of eleven tall canvases of women's portraits, along with a large ceiling mural. Gloria Feman Orenstein, feminist art critic and scholar, believed that the role of the ceiling was to mimic the Sistine Chapel, in which one can find a large painting of various religious figures, who happen to be mainly men, and that this helped create equality as there was now a woman's equivalent (Orenstein, pg. 12, 1976).
Mailman's piece for this installation was a large painting of God as a woman, in which she used herself as the muse. She painted her own face on the body of this newfound religious figure, making it then a self-portrait as God. "Mailman chose to paint God as a woman because she felt a Sister Chapel should have a sister God, simple as that. But more so, she saw flaws in the "unprovable suggestion" that God was a man. And having a male God meant there would always be a man in power, no matter the strides mortal women made." (Silive.com). The way in which Mailman painted such a figure is incredibly important, as she has given this female God an enormous sense of feminine power. The low angle draws the eye to follow up her legs, which then meet her visible labia and pubic hair - unapologetically visible on her naked body. This contrasts to how men historically painted women, as the painting was not created to comfort the male gaze, but challenge it, and the notion of the 'perfect woman'. If she is God, then this natural woman is perfection, surely? Mailman has rebelled against the ideologies of the perfect women that man has created, removing a mask that women often felt the need to wear - for in a patriarchal society, from the 14th century to arguably now, women had a better chance of success if they met the requirements and ideologies of the men running the organisations, artistic or not. After the eyes follow up the legs of God, we can see that she has a lack of navel - for after all, if she is the creator of all things why would she need one? We are then met with a challenging stare from the face of Mailman herself. She seems to question your beliefs and what you take as truth, but also an entire societies vision of God as Man.
Some women in the 50's and 60's felt the need to hide their femininity rather than using it as a tool for praise. This is because if they were to show typical femininity, such as domestic themes, techniques such as sewing and even the colour pink, they would be seen as unprofessional. As a result, women's art could become rather masculine in theme. In this painting, Mailman has rejected this also - she does not hide away the female body - something often thought of as very feminine (although we must be careful between the separation of body and genitalia, and gender - according to Butler gender being a construct based off certain traits that are given the term either 'masculine' or 'feminine').
Cheny, Faxon and Russo state in their book Self-Portraits by Women Painters; “the female self-portrait is no longer a mask, but rather a revelation, a sharing of dark journeys of the spirit and the courage of the quest” (Cheney, Faxon, Russo, 2000, pg.188), which I think is adequate when reviewing this work, especially as the whole installation. These women, including Mailman, have come together to create optimism, hopefulness, and rebellion for the future. The work is not as known as I believe it should be, as it truly does signify a woman's fight for equality that we still face, but still fight, today.
Cynthia Mailman - God
Reviewed by BethCorbett
on
February 19, 2020
Rating:
Reviewed by BethCorbett
on
February 19, 2020
Rating:
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