{"id":5116,"date":"2020-09-14T18:32:53","date_gmt":"2020-09-14T22:32:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/?p=5116"},"modified":"2020-09-16T11:41:31","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T15:41:31","slug":"5116","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/2020\/09\/14\/5116\/","title":{"rendered":"One artist confronts the taboo of aging as a women"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Artwork by Joan Semmel<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In recent series like&nbsp;<em>Transparencies<\/em>&nbsp;(2014\u2013present), Joan Semmel continues to meditate on the aging female physique. Recalling Semmel\u2019s 1990s&nbsp;<em>Overlays<\/em>&nbsp;series, many of these works feature silhouettes of her body superimposed over realistic renderings of her form. Interacting with one another, these dual images create what the artist describes as \u201cdialogues \u2026 [which] entice the viewer to engage.\u201d At the same time, through their layered compositions that invite narratives around movement and the passage of time, these paintings advance Semmel\u2019s decades-long engagement with chronicling her aging body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery columns-3 is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><ul class=\"blocks-gallery-grid\"><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"815\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/4e195ddb8ec6db847b166e0d7a36049e-815x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"5209\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/4e195ddb8ec6db847b166e0d7a36049e.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/2020\/09\/14\/5116\/4e195ddb8ec6db847b166e0d7a36049e\/\" class=\"wp-image-5209\" srcset=\"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/4e195ddb8ec6db847b166e0d7a36049e-815x1024.jpg 815w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/4e195ddb8ec6db847b166e0d7a36049e-239x300.jpg 239w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/4e195ddb8ec6db847b166e0d7a36049e-768x965.jpg 768w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/4e195ddb8ec6db847b166e0d7a36049e-696x875.jpg 696w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/4e195ddb8ec6db847b166e0d7a36049e-334x420.jpg 334w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/4e195ddb8ec6db847b166e0d7a36049e.jpg 923w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 815px) 100vw, 815px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"854\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/39ca1f96d379aaad7422bcace6744e4a-854x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"5210\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/39ca1f96d379aaad7422bcace6744e4a.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/2020\/09\/14\/5116\/39ca1f96d379aaad7422bcace6744e4a\/\" class=\"wp-image-5210\" srcset=\"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/39ca1f96d379aaad7422bcace6744e4a-854x1024.jpg 854w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/39ca1f96d379aaad7422bcace6744e4a-250x300.jpg 250w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/39ca1f96d379aaad7422bcace6744e4a-768x921.jpg 768w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/39ca1f96d379aaad7422bcace6744e4a-696x835.jpg 696w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/39ca1f96d379aaad7422bcace6744e4a-350x420.jpg 350w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/39ca1f96d379aaad7422bcace6744e4a.jpg 967w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 854px) 100vw, 854px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><li class=\"blocks-gallery-item\"><figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"855\" src=\"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/98c665c87ded36af73a35d0f1b5c3377-1-1024x855.jpg\" alt=\"\" data-id=\"5211\" data-full-url=\"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/98c665c87ded36af73a35d0f1b5c3377-1.jpg\" data-link=\"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/2020\/09\/14\/5116\/98c665c87ded36af73a35d0f1b5c3377-1\/\" class=\"wp-image-5211\" srcset=\"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/98c665c87ded36af73a35d0f1b5c3377-1-1024x855.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/98c665c87ded36af73a35d0f1b5c3377-1-300x251.jpg 300w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/98c665c87ded36af73a35d0f1b5c3377-1-768x641.jpg 768w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/98c665c87ded36af73a35d0f1b5c3377-1-696x581.jpg 696w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/98c665c87ded36af73a35d0f1b5c3377-1-1068x892.jpg 1068w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/98c665c87ded36af73a35d0f1b5c3377-1-503x420.jpg 503w, https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/98c665c87ded36af73a35d0f1b5c3377-1.jpg 1389w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure><\/li><\/ul><figcaption class=\"blocks-gallery-caption\">Joan Semmel&#8217;s artwork meant to reflect honestly on how bodies age through a series of self-portraits<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Other recent self-portraits further develop Semmel\u2019s project of female autonomy through her portrayal of the female body in contexts that question cultural and societal norms of female representation. Approaching her own form as a site of self-expression, she challenges the objectification and fetishization of women\u2019s bodies by redefining the female nude through radical imagery that celebrates the aging process\u2014refuting centuries of art historical idealization. \u201cWe all have some difficulty in confronting our aging physical selves,\u201d Semmel argues, \u201cso when you are painting yourself in that position, it really means that you have to say, \u2018I\u2019m doing this and I\u2019m not going to make it pretty. I\u2019m not going to hide it, disguise it, no face-lifts. It\u2019s going to be really the way I see it.\u2019 This is not a disease that\u2019s happening. It\u2019s the natural evolution of a person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\" \/>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Joan&#8217;s artwork touches on the Western culture&#8217;s obsession with youth. This research brings a uniquely feminine perspective on aging, which I think needs more unpacking, due to the added pressures on women as being child-bearing and objects of admiring in their youth. I particularly find this artwork relevant because of the honesty that she presents her portraits with. As she states, she didn&#8217;t try to sugarcoat physical aging in any way. This is important because of the stigma that surrounds aging bodies, especially women&#8217;s. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Are there ways to give elderly women more confidence in their beauty even when society may tell them the opposite?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-cyan-bluish-gray-color has-text-color\">Source: https:\/\/www.alexandergray.com\/series-projects\/joan-semmel5?view=slider#2<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Artwork by Joan Semmel In recent series like&nbsp;Transparencies&nbsp;(2014\u2013present), Joan Semmel continues to meditate on the aging female physique. Recalling Semmel\u2019s 1990s&nbsp;Overlays&nbsp;series, many of these works feature silhouettes of her body superimposed over realistic renderings of her form. Interacting with one another, these dual images create what the artist describes as \u201cdialogues \u2026 [which] entice the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":5117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5116","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5116"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5447,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5116\/revisions\/5447"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/desis.osu.edu\/seniorthesis\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}