Artist Research - Jemima Stehli

Looking at the work of Jemima Stehli was really interesting to me, as she often explores the themes of feminism and the female form in her art work. She often thinks about challenging the idea of women being a sexual object and how she can indulge in the stigma around women and female artists.

One of her pieces we looked at in a seminar with Rosie was her piece in which she stood in front of art curators and gave them control to take a photograph of her when they felt most uncomfortable, whilst she undressed. This was a really interesting piece as she was putting full control in the hands of the male, whilst she exposed them to the female form.

Although I understand what she was trying to achieve with this piece, I do feel as though she could have just been reiterating the stigma of sexualizing the female body. Giving the men total control to take the photo when they felt most uncomfortable showed that there were plenty of different stages of her getting undressed, whilst most were of her completely naked. I do think that this does sexualize the female body and she might not have totally achieved her goal through this piece.

Alice and I discussed this work and how it has influenced our own ideas of wanting to achieve an outlook showing the female form through a sexual nature, but also adverting this stereotype, and hitting the idea that the female body doesn't need to be sexualized in order for women to be paid attention to.