RMIT University Library - Learning Lab

Artist Statement – learning activity - structure

This text has been divided into parts that show the structure of the text and the specific areas covered. The square brackets indicate the parts and the legend at the bottom of the page defines what those parts are.

Rose Agnew – artist statement for an installation (161 words)
Melbourne, Australia
(RMIT University Gallery)
 
Deportment for Young Ladies, 2019  
 
[What]Deportment for Young Ladies is a set of accessories comprising of a thimble, hairbrush, hair bobble, hair bow and (knuckle)duster. [end What]
 
[Context] Growing up as a teenager during the 80s was a time of conflicted emotions and desires – as this period is for all adolescents. For me the tangy dissonance of rebellion and possibilities was overshadowed by vestiges of the repression of female power and sexuality that pervaded the middleclass suburbs of Brisbane. This cognitive dissonance still evokes a sense of furtive desire. [end Context]
 
[Story]Feminism was encroaching on the status quo but growing up at this time my popular culture idols were at odds with the lessons learnt at my mother’s side. Cooking, cleaning, and needlecraft were still very much in the feminine domain, and this domesticity was to be maintained while well-groomed and well behaved. [end Story]
 
[Rationale]These objects reference items associated with femineity. Using my own hair (a plait that I had saved for decades) I suggest new uses for these domestic objects. [end Rationale]

©Copyright Rose Agnew
 
Parts of the statement
What - content description
Context – time and place
Story - personal connection to the theme and context
Rationale and artist’s intent