NOT QUITE HIDDEN ANTIONETTE MCMASTER
NOT QUITE HIDDEN ANTIONETTE MCMASTER
CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ARTISTS CONCLUSION BIBLIOGRAPHY
Introduction In South Africa, violence against women is endemic. Statistics on femicide, rape and domestic violence demonstrate unprecedented prevalence rates. According to the CSVR (Centre for the study of violence and reconciliation) South Africa’s 2019 demographic and health survey reports that one in every five women older than eighteen has experienced physical violence. Physical abuse is higher in poorer households where one in three women suffered abuse. South Africa’s femicide rate is five times more than the global average and we are rated as one of the highest in the world when it comes to sexual violence. (www.csvr.org.za 2020). Over fifty-two thousand sexual offences and forty-two thousand rapes were reported to police last year. This is a scary statistic as there are many thousands of these crimes that never gets reported. My work engages with constructed masks and costumes to create a space and platform that will give birth to a different narrative which will help to start conversations on how to move forward from these horrible atrocities against our women and children. I would like to make a point that all women do indeed matter and this should not be disregarded in any form.
My idea with my masks and sculptures is to create a space and platform that will give birth to a different narrative which will help to start conversations on how to move forward from these horrible atrocities against our women and children. Hopefully when viewing my art viewers will be called not just to compassion but also to social action. There will always be a glimpse of abuse no matter how hard the women try to hide it. I wish to communicate to every woman in an abusive relationship that there is still hope and that you can still emerge from the horror no matter how broken you are. There is always another option.
In my work I wish to evoke sadness, regret, unease and horror. I use my work as a way of breaking the silence, giving a voice to the voiceless. The inspiration for the masks and sculptures were drawn from Masquerade costumes from across the world. The costumes are sometimes worn to mark the stages of life and provide a clear definition of society’s expectation of the individual and give them a sense of identity and belonging. My work strives to bring to life the aspects of womanhood that the women lived and enshrine these qualities. This is the opposite of the women and children that were murdered, they no longer belong, or have any rights to live and experience life. Life has been ripped away. In tradition, when the wearer puts on a costume, she becomes the costume, she merges with the costume. You are no longer you, you become something or someone else. No one knows which age, gender or race the person in the costume is. You are anonymous, hidden away, without judgement. (www.hubpages.com 2020). It is for this reason that I am using the idea of the mask and the costume. It represents all women, any race and age which allows me to enact as aspects of their lives.
The masks are also a representation of the anonymity of these girls and women. The masks offer a glimpse of the innocence and beauty that has been taken away from them, highlighting the ugliness and horror of the situation. I am inspired by a South African journalist, Cindy September, who started a list of names of women and girls who were tragically murdered in South Africa. She called the list ‘SA’s Fallen Angels’. (www.sapeople.com 2019). The list started after the brutal murder of Megan Cremer in Cape Town. September started the list on the group SA Women Fight Back in August 2019. She lovingly put the list together and when first published had two hundred and eighty five names which was send to her by mother’s, daughters, friends and grandchildren who wish to stand together for a safer future in honour of their loved ones who lost their tomorrows. The latest number of names now stand at six hundred and fifty. Violence towards women and children remains a grave issue in our Country. In my work I show the beauty of all the women murdered, no matter what the person did in their life, there is something beautiful in every women and girl, no matter what they went through or going through this can never be taken away from them. My photographs juxtapose the beauty against the horror.
The last work is a sculptural piece made from bicycle tubes glued into layers over the body. This is also a representation of hiding, building a shield around the body. The sharp shapes in the neck area is a subtle reminder of knifes or sharp objects that is sometimes used to murder women. The head of the sculpture is in the image of a bird layers of feathers, which represents flight.
One of the artists that inspired the idea of the Masquerade costumes is Nick Cave, his Soundsuits. These costumes completely cover the individuals’ body. It camouflages the shape of the wearer, enveloping, creating a second skin that hides gender, race as well as class. Compelling the audience to watch without judgement. This is exactly what I tried to re-create with my masquerade costume. My theme differs from Cave’s, his work deals mainly with race, gender as well as identity whereas mine deal with gender base violence and femicide.
Nick Cave, Soundsuit (2009). Performance piece, photo: James Prinz Photography, courtesy the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. http://jackshainman.co/exhibitions/recent_soundsuit (Accessed 20 July 2020).
Conclusion My body of work is thus a celebration of lost beauty and innocence of the murder victims. Mourning for what they lost and compassion for what they had to endure by the hands of men. I Would like to emphasize that abuse is not a right it is cruel and horrific, no women deserve this.
Bibliography https://www.sfmoma.org/read/discussion-questions-nick-cave-soundsuit/ (Accessed 20 July 2020). https://www.sapeople.com/2019/08/20/sas-fallen-angels-list-honouringfemales-murdered-in-south-africa/ (Accessed 15 July 2020) https://www.csvr.org.za/index.php (Accessed 15 July 2020).