Curatorial Rationale

Marwa R.

My body of work has transitioned from various ideas, however, they all are correlated with the theme regarding female stereotypes constructed within society, specific stereotypes regarding the beauty and behavioral standards imposed on women. I have tried to explore this theme through several perspectives - by looking at how women attempt to conform to the norms established by society, by exhibiting anorexic tendencies to achieve a model-like figure. I explore how, in an attempt to appeal to the male gaze, women often jeopardize their mental and physical health in the process. By exploring my own personal identity, I began to see how these stereotypes imposed from a primarily patriarchal society, altered my own self. My works usually utilize the medium of acrylic paint on canvas, however, I deviated from this medium with two of my works and utilized adapted versions by altering mediums to fully portray this theme from all perspectives. This allowed me to represent the instability experienced by women in society when confronted with these societal expectations across this entirety of the body of work.

My pieces that focus on how women inadvertently portray anorexic tendencies when conforming to social expectations, “Étoile Bleue” and “Do You Like Me Now?” were both inspired by the constant narrative portrayed within the media on how women should behave and appear in order to be deemed acceptable by society. Everywhere we look, whether it be on our phones or even in advertisements, women are constantly under the impression that we must be a certain weight and must look a certain way, in order to be accepted by society. With these two pieces, I wanted to depict how although women may appear beautiful and elegant, like a ballerina, on the outside, in reality, they conceal their true natures within themselves and suffer in silence due to the overbearing pressure we experience while conforming to societal expectations.

I created these works primarily with the viewer in mind, as I intended meaning to be derived from observation rather than personal relevance. The placement of these two works side by side juxtaposes one another to essentially shock the audience into recognizing the ugliness concealed within modern society; how women must hide the harm inflicted by society and present themselves as elegant and beautiful to fit right in. The absence of a detailed background in both works places emphasis on both the ballerina and the disfigured woman in their respective works.

The next group of pieces, Right off the Bat, The Glory, and Love Yourself First, were all inspired by Cassie Howard from HBO’s Euphoria. After watching the show, I realized how influential the male gaze is on how women live their lives, and how in the satisfaction of this gaze, women often experience a deterioration in their mental and physical health. Within these works, I wanted to portray the extent to which women conceal their insecurities and true feelings within themselves just to satisfy the male gaze.

I placed these works side by side to showcase the extent to which women conceal their insecurities and feelings, often hurting themselves in the process, in order to appeal to the male gaze. For instance, in The Glory, the contrast between the warm and vibrant pinks and purples within the flowers and cool blue tones in the background emphasizes the notion that in the eyes of men, the only value women possess in society is their beauty, hence the beauty associated with the flowers. Both Right off the Bat and Love Yourself First depict how women must hide their insecurities, with the woman facing away from the viewer in Love Yourself First and the nails within the tongue in Right off the Bat, or else society will bash them for exposing their true feelings and acting like themselves. The last group of pieces, Distorted Discernment, Nostalgic Withdrawals and Fill How You Feel, depict how I, as a woman growing up in this patriarchal society, am affected by these overbearing societal expectations and the struggles I have to face every single day. Within these pieces, I wanted to capture the viewer’s attention through unique mediums and portray the extent to which these societal expectations impacted my life.