Beauty and the grotesque in the porcelain work of Shary Boyle : a study in subversion.
Date
2010-04-07T20:51:12Z
Authors
Murphy, Sarah Grace
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Abstract
Contemporary Canadian artist Shary Boyle's varied body of work includes: drawings, paintings, performance art and sculpture. While Boyle has received national and international recognition, there has not been an in-depth scholarly study of this prolific artist. In particular, this thesis will focus on Boyle's lace draped porcelain figures, created between 2002-2006, as well as select drawings from her "Porcelain Fantasy Series." It will examine her use of both the familiar, as well as the subversive powers of the grotesque, as she appropriates visual motifs used in traditional porcelain figurines. Through the grotesque she disrupts and challenges patriarchal constructions, and the consumption, of feminine beauty that is typically represented in these figurines. Her work both critiques and draws attention to restrictions these constructions have placed on women, as well as providing images of emancipation.
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Grotesque in art, Aesthetics, Porcelain, Canadian