'I wake up, and resume
peeling off the remnants of last night’s licentiously red nail varnish;
a clumsily applied topcoat
gracelessly covering a week’s worth of large chips and scrapes…
Really ought to remember to
buy nail polish remover.
Sluggishly advancing to the
shower,
I consider the daily
dilemma;
To shave or not to shave.
Today, armpits are a must;
having crossed the
acceptable boundary where underarm fluff may be blamed on a shedding woollen jumper.
Legs aren’t necessary.
Last night’s short skirt
entailed the full works; exfoliating, moisturising and shaving (even behind the
knees). They’ll do for at least three days.
Eyebrows are still
recovering from last week’s over enthusiastic plucking session and should be
left well alone for the foreseeable future.
A post-shower coffee is
complimented beautifully by what is most definitely my LAST cigarette.
…barring the one designated
for emergency use only,
…and the necessary
afternoon-break-cigarette.
…not to mention to strays
that inhabit my handbag, only to surface once I’ve had a drink.'
The
work both brings to light, and examines, the seemingly nonsensical, illogical
and somewhat inexplicable neuroses which inhabit us as women; the obvious
importance of these peculiarities in shaping a woman’s routine remaining
baffling to their comparatively uncomplicated counterparts.
To anyone in possession of a
Y chromosome, the significance of the role of the neuroses on the average woman
is often underestimated. Amplified and reinforced by a £14 billion beauty
industry and the prevalence of paper-based media culture, the average woman
crumbles. Paling in comparison to her airbrushed, perfectly pruned, glossy
equivalents, the average woman is forced to become possessed by neuroses.
The work presents the story
of the neurotic relationship between womanhood and the unnecessary tentativeness
to the four female neuroses; the unspoken rules of nail varnish application and
removal, the unwarranted complex of the constant pruning and tweaking of body
hair and the endless (and fruitless) quitting smoking process.
The work narrates a social
commentary with an empathetic ear; glorifying the inglorious idiosyncrasies
that make womanhood, but perhaps more importantly the work attempts to engage
with other women, those of the sisterhood of: to pluck or not to pluck, to shave
or not to shave, to puff or not to puff and to refresh or just fill in the
gaps.
Is this nature or nurture,
instinct or influence?
With a nod and
acknowledgement to our media–fuelled world . . .
Books, prints and objects
are utilized to present:
the philosophical meanderings
of the female brain
the unreasonable reasonings
and questionable complexes
the mock-retail nature and
consumer-driven format, exhibiting the workings of the average
eyebrow-plucking, ‘last cigarette’ smoking, nail polish peeling woman:
a celebration of these
quintessentially female neuroses.
