Open gallery
Hanna Sanderson, Bathroom, 48” x 35”, oil on panel, 2021.
Gender has traditionally and societally been placed into a box, determined by the ways in which an individual expresses it with their actions and behaviors, and with these concepts constantly shifting and growing today, we have to reframe what gender looks like and means to us personally and as a community. My body of work focuses on how painting can express the dynamic structures within gender roles and performativity, specifically in the domestic sphere to observe how the most intimate spaces can reveal the complexities of identities and what goes into upholding them . I am placing subconscious gender narratives within each piece to guide and challenge such beliefs and search for a new perspective.
The emphasis on vibrant color elucidates the intense and varying emotions tied to one’s embodied and unique experience of gender. The calming hues you’ll see in Bedroom #1 represents an ease in the expression of some gender identities by establishing a sense of passivity and softness, while the uncomfortable nature of the colors in Bathroom translates to a more complicated perception. The selective colors I chose are meant to evoke perceptions about one’s own gender identification in relation to societal acceptance of gender expression. The flatness and clean edges of the blocks of color mirrors the artificiality of our contemporary reality, since our lives and identities are most often viewed through a phone, and now, computer screen. With the influence of social media, we are more explicitly exposed to how our identities are dictated by society’s expectations of them. My work draws attention to the experience of gender, and investigates ways that gender can be reenvisioned to be accepted and embraced by society today.