Together But Separate: Images of the Sovereign Feminine

Rowan Renee

MFA ’19

“Together But Separate” is a photographic exhibition proposal that addresses the subversion of gendered power structures through art objects. The project confronts themes of sexism and misogyny in order to understand how the strategic implementation of violence towards feminine and queer bodies has been leveraged as a tool to maintain dominance in a patriarchal society. The goal of the project is to deepen understanding of how misogyny continues to affect the status of women and feminine-identified people in the contemporary moment, and to illuminate tactics for reclaiming our labor and bodies in a socio-political climate where our progress towards equality is threatened.

The photographs and mixed-media works in this proposal are based on a personal narrative where an artistic collaboration with a former partner deteriorated, resulting in the loss of ownership and access to a series of photographs of myself that I co-authored. Using this narrative as the building block of the project, I plan to expand my research outward to include historic narratives from women and femmes about their struggles against patriarchal systems of ownership and authorship, the strategies they implemented to subvert the systems that worked against them, and the ways they envisioned possible futures outside of the historic limitations placed on their labor.

Library Mentor: Julie Herrada