Daria Modrzanska
There is a reoccurring theme in several William Holman Hunt paintings between female
figures and entangled threads. Works such as The Awakening
Conscience (1853) and The Lady of
Shalott (1905) demonstrate Hunt’s intrigue in the presentation of knotted
threads alongside “fallen” women. By no means coincidental, tangled threads in
Hunt’s paintings are depicted with immoral and unchaste females who are themselves entangled in webs of sexual impurity.
Along with Hunt’s pictorial association between femininity and threads, women
have long been identified with textiles through the “woman’s arts” of weaving,
quilting, and embroidering. Regarded as a suitable past-time
activity for Victorian women, “Fancy-Work” perpetuated the notion of the
female’s household space and her domestic role in society. For that reason, the
entanglement of thread in Hunt’s paintings can be interpreted as the rejection
of the craft, and thus the female’s desertion of her ascribed role in Victorian life. Despite this, Handmade Meaning (2010-2011),
an exhibition of Victorian craftwork alongside contemporary “crafted” art at
the James Watrous Gallery, explored the significance of Victorian craft as a
means of “self-expression, self-reliance, and community building” for women at
the time. While craftwork implied female’s leisurely domestic activity, it
simultaneously provided a device for the empowerment of the female voice during
the 19th century.
Still,
does the dialogue between threads, female sexuality, and the female voice
continue into contemporary society? Artist Mo Morgan interlaces these elements in
her collection Feminist Embroidery-
traditionally adorned handcrafted embroidery inlaid with bold feminist phrases,
such as “gender was never binary.” Morgan attempts to disrupt the passivity associated
with women’s fabric art by applying hard-hitting mantras and empowering the female voice. Particularly thought provoking is the comparison
between Hunt and Morgan and their respective manifestations of thread and
femininity in art. Hunt employs thread to define woman’s sexuality- be it in
the retention of woman’s moral and domestic role or in the symbolism of woman’s
dissolute sexuality through entangled thread. Morgan, on the other hand,
utilizes thread-literally through embroidery- to express the female’s control over her own sexuality.
More
Information on Mo Morgan’s Work:
More
Information on Handmade Meaning Exhibit:
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ReplyDeleteI really like the topic you chose! I think you make a good comparison between contemporary women artist’s work of embroidery and Hunt’s painting in terms of their expressions of femininity. The relationship between women and thread/ weaving/ embroidery in art is a very interesting aspect to look at in Pre Raphaelite works. Your comparison makes me think of Elizabeth Siddal’s work of Lady of Shalott (1853). Siddal’s work captures the moment when the lady of Shalott, disregarding of the curse put on her, bravely and faithfully turns her face to the window to see the person she loves. In Siddal’s version, the thread also begins to lose control as in Hunt’s work. However, the messy threads fly away from Lady of Shalott (Lady) to the back of the loom instead of entangling her. I think the thread in Siddal’s painting can be read as a representation of Lady’s inner world, a sign of female power. Lady controls the technology of producing textile and she seems professional and calm. I think the flying-off of the thread is not due to the curse but due to her own feelings. In this particular moment, the arousal of Lady’s love by Lancelot is expressed through the flying thread. I agree with you that weaving/embroidery has long been viewed as a womanly work in the history, which defines women’s morality and domesticity. In some cases, the representation of textile production can also be viewed as a powerful self-expression, as in Siddal's and Morgan’s works. I really enjoy reading your post and I think it is a very interesting question to research on!
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