Study for Briar Rose

Artist Carole Caroompas (American, born 1946)

Date1989

MediumWhite pencil on paper

DimensionsUnframed: 30 x 30 in. (76.2 x 76.2 cm) Framed: 36 x 36 in. (91.4 x 91.4 cm)

ClassificationsDrawing

Credit LineGift of Cliff Benjamin

Object number2007.4.2

Label TextThese works are "psychological landscapes that examine the social/sexual roles between women and men. These narratives employ the use of mythic, cultural, and metaphysical cross-references through the use of image as metaphor and diagram. Duality occurs through the use of images in conflict co-existing with images of faith. These works reflect on the past to propose questions and possible alternatives concerning the social/sexual roles and relationships of women and men. In [this series], I have been specifically re-examining the content and imagery of traditional fairy tales (i.e. Grimm's Fairy Tales). The most frequent motif used in fairy tales is Paradise Lost/Paradise Regained and is a logical extension for a discourse on female/male relationships, the classical example being "Cinderella." I have been researching this material in order to re-evaluate the traditional value system designated to women and men in these narratives.

My intentions in these [works] is to deconstruct sexist and authoritarian perspectives to re-tell and restructure the narrative by fusing traditional and cultural symbols in contemporary settings. I am interested in re-examining identity and power and the myths and symbols that support that belief system by choosing appropriate myths and symbols for 'My Time.' How in 1989 does one depict partnership and equals rather than trade, barter or compromise? Ultimately this means changing and contradicting the original function of the fairy tale. Fairy tales set standards for sexual and social conduct and I would like to bring some of these social relations into question. Since I have a literary and additive sensibility, I choose to do this through conceptual layering and formal construct in painting.

These paintings question how culture and myth can cure or cripple. They question how culture and myth frame our desire and create what Angela Carter in 'The Sadeian Woman' called 'the Holy Terror of Love...' I have found that the sexual images in these paintings make the viewer uncomfortable because they take on the images from a personal point of view...When the erotic sexual image is decontextualized to a painting it suddenly moves into personal identification. I believe this demystification of the sexual images produces a psychological and emotional self-consciousness and therefore a confrontation with one's own sexuality and sexual role in the culture. I would very much like to demystify that 'Holy Terror of Love' that seems to exist in our culture and frame it with Desire." - Carole Caroompas

Status

On view

Location