Päivi Leino

Femininity

These works investigate the multiplicity of gender representations for the feminine. Femininity and masquerade has been connected together by various scholars in psychology and social sciences. The inspiration for this work has been the many theories and artworks utilizing masquerade as their weapon of choice in discussing issues of femininity. These textile sculptures examine the rigid categories available for feminine representation of self and question the traditional image of womanliness. The cagey like structure paints a one sided picture of womanliness, but something spills over. Unfinished ends of sculptures suggests the evolving of gendered features as an ongoing process. Rope as a rigid, strong material intertwines into a lace like structures, suggesting femininity and masculinity in connection to each other, merging those gendered features of personality into a whole and commenting that femininity and masculinity are both present in all of us as valuable building blocks of human existence. Here the masculine ropes construct the feminine surface, as well as in society, femininity is examined through the looking glass of masculine superiority. Femininity can be seen as caged inside the masculine discourse, supressed to the notion of body. These textile sculptures lure the viewer into addressing the themes of femininity and fake, but give no straight answers.