Dorothy Netherland: Statement
for Velveteen, Oct. 2012
For the last
ten years I've been making paintings on layered panes of glass, using images
from vintage and contemporary
women's magazines as source material. While my work has always expressed my
anxieties, the earlier work focused on themes of transience and the
unreliability of memory, and the idea that our current sense of self is
informed by our often inaccurate interpretations of our personal histories.
My current
work explores these ideas from the context of being the mother of a 10-year-old
daughter. It often feels as though her childhood is rapidly flying by, and eventually
she will come to her own conclusions about whether or not she was provided with
a strong enough foundation to negotiate the confusing world around her, a world
where increasing emphasis is placed on the surface. What she has learned about herself so far will influence how she
responds to the big choices ahead.
My past is being imposed on her, just as the strengths, shortcomings and
limitations of my own parents profoundly affected my life.
I am
exploring the constructed nature of self, and wondering where the need for
outer perfection originates . I am intrigued by the juxtaposition of the real
and the fake. Young women today often give the impression of possessing almost boundless
power. I'm fascinated by the idea of Girl Power, and how that relates to
artifice and sexuality. Are young women really more empowered now? Is it
possible to embrace youth, beauty and sexuality in a healthy, meaningful way
which goes beyond the superficial? Is there room for real individuality? Is our
obsession with idealized beauty expanding into the realm of the absurd, and are
we becoming more and more narcissistic in general? Whose notions of femininity and sexuality will my daughter be using as guidelines for
her own constructions?
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