Early Girl Red Globe, watercolor and graphite on paper, 11x15", 2015

ARTIST STATEMENT

The series “Meat Market” tackles themes of femininity, masculinity, and consumerism in contemporary culture.  This form of aggressive consumerism, which began after the Second World War, transcends traditional notions of the manufactured object and transforms even the human figure into an object for unabashed consumption. The pieces create satirical scenarios, calling into question the validity of traditional gender roles and how those roles are commodified in our modern consumerist culture.
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​The drawings are deliberate subversions of the viewer's expectations, juxtaposing common culturally engrained associations. Market-style cuts of raw meat traditionally associated with masculinity and hunting are paired with the exaggerated femininity of historical female pin-up imagery from the post-war era.  Alternatively, male beefcake and cowboy imagery is paired with fruits and vegetables that have come to be identified with femininity and gathering.  Such juxtapositions call into question the realities of contemporary marketing and advertising, which continually mirror back our simplistic notions of femininity and masculinity in an effort to sell consumables.  The work ultimately responds to a marketing formula that has endured for decades, and that we as consumers continue to embrace.