Lavishly Dressed Women Equipped with Shovels and Chainsaws Consider the Tools Used for Change
“Energy Transfer.” All photographs © Kelly Reemtsen, shared with permission
“My work has at all times been a tribute to all of the hard-working girls in my life,” says Kelly Reemtsen. The artist (beforehand), who lives and works between Los Angeles and London, has spent the final decade producing a subversive physique of labor dedicated to exploring gender, its constructs, and real-world impacts, from wage gaps to the continuous rollback of reproductive rights. Her apply spans printmaking, sculpture, and portray and juxtaposes visible markings of femininity with objects related to masculinity. Each bit portrays an nameless lady wearing a tulle skirt, patent pumps, and glitzy jewellery greedy a chainsaw or shovel in a straightforward, nonchalant method.
In recent times, Reemtsen has gravitated towards oval canvases evocative of conventional portraiture, along with pedestals and ladders that elevate her topics. “Are the ladies in my work attempting to interrupt by means of the glass ceilings or simply escaping the present state of affairs? I feel most girls are doing one or each always, consciously or not,” she shares. A collection of chainsaw sculptures painted with vibrant, playful colours augments the artist’s broader questions regarding how “the instruments obtainable to us form who we’re and who we wish to be. I discover utilizing instruments– whether or not a printmaking press, a chainsaw, make-up, or anything– to be extremely empowering as a car for initiating change.”
A ten-year survey of Reemtsen’s work shall be on view at albertz benda’s Los Angeles gallery this Might, and he or she additionally has items in a group exhibition opening on April 21 in London and in August at Galeri Oxholm in Copenhagen. Discover a bigger assortment of her work and sculptures on her site and Instagram.
“Buzz Kill”
“Sample Conduct”
“Taking Form Yellow”
“Snip”
“Scoop”
“Step It Up”
“Taking Form Aqua”
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