EVE SENDERHAUF
Senior HL
Curatorial Rationale
My art exhibit is intended to portray the growth of feminism and the role of women from the 1940s to modern day society. In the 1940s, the role of women in society finally expanded due to WWII, and without men in the home, women of the era finally began to get a taste of what lies beyond household duties. I want my feminist-forward work to contrast the stereotypical setting of a kitchen in the 40s and 50s where the housewife would generally carry out those chores.
The most prominent feature in my work lies inside the fridge. I created a video for my original song Ivy Street, which is about a woman named Annie who walks away from her cheating husband. Ivy Street is the gem that carries the true meaning of my exhibit. The 40s and 50s are frequently romanticized, but I want my story to show the less glamorous, harsh truth of the time. My video connects to many of my works due to Annie’s liberation story. “Girls, Girls, Girls,” “The Corruption of You,” and “TV Girl,” all focus on the exposure of female features that would be considered much more scandalous in the time period my exhibit depicts. So, in that sense, much of my work traces back to the theme of liberation, whether it is liberation from typical gender roles in Annie’s situation, or normalization of the female body, in the case of the other works mentioned.
Considering the position of my works, I wanted to incorporate all of them into my set without disrupting the overall feeling of the kitchen. Viewers should be able to walk into my set and feel immersed in the story of Annie and the significance behind my art. With the music, the furniture, and the art on the walls, it should be like stepping into another generation. In addition to this, I want viewers to truly be affected by my exhibit’s meaning. The display of the revealing works juxtaposed with the stereotype of the 50s housewife is meant to show how much women have achieved in the past century and inspire the younger female generation to strive for even more.
EVE SENDERHAUF
click images to enlarge - artist statements below - leave comments at bottom
ARTIST STATEMENTS
Audrey
16”x22”
Digital art
This piece is one of the first artworks I ever created digitally. I used Adobe Illustrator to create it, and while it was extremely fun to make, it was also very time consuming due to the fact that I had to draw each shape on the face individually. Due to it representing the diversity that exists within our nation, and the desire for absolute acceptance, this remains one of my favorite works. The many different colors on the face represent each and every skin color that should be accepted into our society. Even though it only metaphorically represents those skin tones, I want this piece to represent equality of all, despite our differences.
Laurel
8”x8”
Embroidery on canvas cloth
This piece was my first experimentation with textiles. I intended to keep the look loose and messy by using a punch needle to bring the threads back through to the front of the cloth. That is also how I created the texture for the hair. I intended to keep an illustrative style with this piece even though it was not created with a traditional illustration medium.
Rabbit Boy
19”x24”
Digital art
This piece, titled Rabbit Boy, displays my familiarity with Adobe Illustrator as a digital tool. I created this piece by referencing a similar drawing in my sketchbook and transforming it into a much more illustrative style. I intended to practice my technical abilities while also trying to evolve my artistic style, and throughout the process I found that I enjoy using bright colors and lines within my artwork.
Audrey II
12”x7”x7”
Acrylic on plaster and papier mache
Due to this piece being one of my first experimentations with sculpture, I chose to reference a subject I was already familiar with; my favorite musical, Little Shop of Horrors. I started out by layering strips of newspaper over a blown up balloon, then covered it in plaster, painted it, and added fake leaves and hot glue. Being a primarily two dimensional artist, I love the way that my first large-scale three dimensional project turned out.
Olive
11”x13”
Digital art
I created this piece by altering an image I took at the Art Institute of Chicago's Hairy Who exhibit. In this exhibit, I met an old woman in a wheelchair that had personally known some of the Chicago Imagists, and she told me about her experiences with them and their processes. Because of this, I wanted to attempt to capture what I thought this old woman's young spirit looked like, so I created the character Olive on the train ride home. The original picture was of the chairs alone, and I used Procreate to draw the image of Olive and used Photoshop to add shadows that increased the realism of the piece.
Rebound
6”x8”
Acrylic on wood
This piece represents the process of rebounding after a long term relationship. Yellow represents temporary happiness, Blue represents sadness and loss, and Red represents lust. Yellow and Blue were once in a committed relationship, but Yellow broke it off. Blue lost their long-term partner, and because of this, is still attached to yellow and somewhat transparent with their feelings. Yellow found a new, short-term partner in Red, who is only there for lustful reasons. Yellow quickly tried to move on while Blue is still working through their own feelings. That is also why both Blue and Yellow have a tear, even though Yellow’s is upside down, representing the hiding of their past relationship. In addition to this, Red and Yellow form a heart with their heads, again representing temporary happiness in love.
Love Me
26”x20”
Acrylic on plexiglass
For this piece, I took my stash of old love letters and put them in a frame. For the longest time, I did nothing but let them persist as a reminder of the past. After finding a use for them by displaying them within a frame, I painted myself making the ugliest face I could imagine. I wanted the face to contrast the letters full of admiration and love. The letters range from 5th grade to junior year, and the purpose of this piece overall was to mock the surface-level infatuation displayed through the writings.
The Corruption of You
5”x5”
Acrylic on wood
This piece is about a toxic relationship I was in about 2 years ago. The black oil represents corruption, and every area of my body that I feel was corrupted by that relationship has black oil flowing out of it. The eyes are typically seen to be the windows to the soul, so I have the black contained in the pupil but also running out of my tear duct. The nose represents a nosebleed, which typically happens after a punch to the face. This represents some of the mental abuse and manipulation I went through. The mouth, breast, foot, and genitals all represent some darker situations that I was in. I made this piece to remind myself that I should never have to go through the same toxicity that I put up with for so long in that relationship. I want viewers to take that same mentality with them from this piece, because no one should have to put up with manipulation or abuse in any of their relationships.
Class of 2020
7”x4”
Embroidery on medical mask
This piece is intended to represent the ill-effects of Covid-19 on students all around the world. Isolation has changed the way my final months of my senior year have panned out, and all of the things I worked toward for years of my high school career have been taken away by the pandemic. It has been extremely difficult living out what was supposed to be the final months before we’re expected to take the plunge into adulthood in isolation. I want people to be able to understand what students my age are going through as they view this piece.
森林浴 (Shinrinyoku)
Watercolor
8.5”x11”
This was the first piece of artwork that I created during isolation, and I created it with the intent of showing the mentality a lot of people are holding during the Coronavirus pandemic. The skull wearing a medical mask hidden in the woods represents the worst of what people fear is going to happen. They believe this will last forever, and that they’re going to live their entire lives in isolation and fear.
Bones!
Wool felting on felt sheet
9”x7”
While originally intending to create a piece of art about a current event, I decided to take a bit of a different course on this piece. Instead of making a piece directly about the current state of the world around us, I wanted to create some art purely for fun. I picked a subject I enjoyed, and let myself let go of the deeper meanings for a bit. I personally believe that we all deserve a little bit of stress-relief in tough times, and sometimes art can just exist purely for enjoyment or aesthetic. It doesn’t always have to be created for a higher purpose, and sometimes just needs to be created for the artist themselves.
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