Society is changing, and femalism is also changing. So is it the development of society that leads to the awakening of female’s consciousness, or the progress of female’s consciousness that leads to the development of society? I'm always thinking about the balance between change and constancy. As a female, I want to find the connection between myself and the ‘group’, myself and society, myself and time & space.
Seeing Her Changing
INSPIRATION
Part of the reason for the paiting is that I have seen many voices on the internet saying that the current feminist movement is too ‘radical’, but the problem is that the current society is still too unequal, and if we do not seek radical change, the society will not change. For example, in the beginning, China's high-speed trains sold cigarettes but not sanitary napkins, which led to many females in the situation of sudden menstruation, but there was no way to buy sanitary napkins on the high-speed train. Therefore, many Chinese females post voices on the Internet to call for ‘sell sanitary napkins on the high-speed rail’. But some men in China are very ignorant of menstruation, they say ‘Females will not be bleeding as long as they endure or control it’ (Well, menstruation cannot be ‘controlled’, it is a natural physiological phenomenon.) Then they said, ‘Ask to sell sanitary napkins is just a woman's grumble’, and even said that women put forward to sell sanitary napkins on China's high-speed rail is "much more than radical" and "boring". This caused more women to protest and dissatisfaction, and finally through "radical" ways and complaints, the high-speed rail finally began to sell sanitary napkins. In my opinion, this radical is a reasonable way to defend one's rights.
Blue and white porcelain:
Blue and white porcelain is made of cobalt ore containing cobalt oxide as raw materials, painted on the ceramic body, and then covered with a layer of glaze, after 1300 degrees of high-temperature fire. After firing, the cobalt will change from gray color to blue. It has the characteristics of strong color, a high firing rate and stable images.
Culture:
Blue and white porcelain originated in the Yuan Dynasty of China. People in the Yuan Dynasty would shoot arrows on horseback, and blue and white porcelain represented the sky, and white represented white clouds. This is the ancient people through blue and white porcelain to express the hope for the future and the yearning for freedom. This is also what I hope to convey through this medium that the future of women is full of hope, and the future is also in the hands of women themselves. I hope women's stories are always full of themselves and love.
Medium related to the theme:
Blue and white porcelain is a medium that can be retained for a very long time, even after hundreds of years, the color of the porcelain will not change at all. Therefore, I also want to use this medium to express that her achievement in the history is eternal and her light will never fade after million change.
I want to see more females seeking change and really changing the unequal environment we live in. Therefore, I want to use this work to reflect the people who defend their rights and interests and pursue change through a macro perspective from history to modern society.
Process
Then, I use a large brush on the body of the plate to draw out the structure of the picture. This step I think is relatively easy, just pay attention to not putting too much water in the brush.
Then, I began to sketch out the preliminary details. I found that the original composition would lose the vision of the centre of the picture and slightly to the left, so I immediately deepened the details of the picture on the right side and set the middle side to the deepest side to balance the visual effect.
Here I explored a new painting technique, which is to splash water with paint directly on the picture in a small scale, and then work on the details, so that the effect can be simple and direct. But in fact, this trick was discovered because I accidentally spilled water on the body, so I went ahead and discovered a new trick.
Before Firing
After Firing
After the original picture was finished, I put it in the kiln and fired it at 1380 degrees. The whole picture changed from grey to blue because of a chemical reaction, the cobalt-containing minerals in the blue and white porcelain were catalysed by high temperature, resulting in a colour change.
Unfortunately, some parts of the picture were cracked. So, I filled the cracks with acrylic molding paste. This is where I got to know the medium. The acrylic paste dries quickly and can help fill cracks. This medium can create a contrast with the texture of porcelain.
The image symbolizes female warriors. They use their strong power to defend their home. They break the "weak" label that society puts on women and show strong female strength through her-story.
I drew the shape of the eye and the sun in the center of the picture. The eyes represent people who pay attention to history, her-stoy should not be buried, their stories need to be seen by more people. Their decision like the sun to lead the world and inspired more and more people to bravely change.
This image symbolizes female creators. Their thinking is ahead of the times, and also protest problems in the socity. Their thoughts have influenced more people, helped more people find truth and solve problems. Their spirit is changing the world.
This image symbolizes the female leaders who lead the era in history. They are brave, intelligent and innovative. They have ability to push and change to era.
Felisa Gan
Seeing Her Changing
Blue and white porcelain, acrylic
360cm x120 cm
2024
This work intends to commemorate the contribution of females. Females in history often play a role in changing and promoting history. The picture shows how females have changed the world in an abstract art style, like the initiator of the French Revolution, Catherine the Great, and many females with deeply desire to prove their beliefs.
The medium of blue and white porcelain symbolized eternity, which affirmed that females’ contributions cannot be faded or replaced by others. Through the arts, I want to encourage more females to change the unequal environment and call on people to remember the achievements of “herstory”.
