Open Call for submissions of visual art, time art, and writing.
This is a curated, web-based gallery, of sorts, open to visual art, and writing. Due to the specificity of the concept, this call is open to those who's relationship to their body and femininity has changed. Contemplations of the femme self, in relationship to a transformed body and or spirit. Artists, musicians and writers who have found themselves becoming reclusive, due to some kind of experiential transition. Contemplations of navigating pregnancy/post pregnancy, marriage, gender transition, new career, menopause, aging, heartbreak, divorce, empty nest, chronic and critical physical illness, mental health conditions, trauma, recovery....
Do you have work that directly or indirectly explores your own relationship with femininity in relation to transformational experiences? How is your femininity affected by, for instance, having disabling conditions and/or being prone to isolation? How is your femininity affected by embarking on new, transformative states of being?
This call is international and intersectional, with the intention of providing a platform for representation and amplification of the voices of people who are exploring this theme. Gender fluid, trans, queer, as well as cis artists, women of color, trans people of color, indigenous women, trans and two-spirit artists and writers are encouraged to apply. If you currently, or have ever identified as femme, or if you have not consistently identified as femme, but have personally explored femininity, and have work and ideas and experiences to contribute. The concept of this gallery is specifically about explorations and interrogations of femininity as it is explored in relation to the self.
The idea came from the curator's experiences of transitioning from a former social butterfly, to a relative shut-in, due to trauma/anxiety/chronic illness, and how this has affected her as an artist, writer, and human being. Coping with trauma and chronically fatiguing conditions, she found herself wanting to sustain her former life - getting dressed up in fancy vintage outfits to go out with friends, but rendered immobile and unable to leave the front door. She decided to stay dressed up, if only to entertain herself, and her cat, while stuck at home. Five years later, playing dress-up alone has become her ritual, and she wonders to herself: what does this mean? What does it mean to be femme, in this day and age? What does it mean to be femme, post trauma? What does it mean to be femme and disabled? What does it mean to be femme, and prone to isolation, but to still want the fantasy of dressing up and exploring femininity, if for nobody but herself? What does it mean to exhibit herself for her own female gaze? The impetus to open up the conversation, and provide this platform to other artists, dealing with similar subjects, stems from the realization over numerous conversations, of the commonality of this exploration among her femme-identifying peers.
Work that explores how/why we present our femininity to ourselves. Aesthetics of femininity and how/why we sustain or cease the practice of playing dress-up. Domesticity. Ritual. Reverie. Loss. Isolation. Self-preservation. Absurdity. Transition. Sensuality. Solitude. Vulnerability. Intimacy. Healing the self through ritualized trivialities. Re-friending the body, post trauma. Renewal.
This is an open, and rolling call. No deadline. Not all work submitted will be chosen, and is up to the discretion of the curator.
*Please include title, year created, and your preferred artist name. *For video and audio submissions, please provide a link that can be embedded. *This is a no-profit creative exercise, a passion-project, if you will. *I will happily include links to your portfolio sites. *If you are interested in presenting multifaceted, intermedia work, or work that is on a dedicated website, please communicate via email about specifications.
*The curator will likely want to engage in a brief and informal dialogue, with submitting artists, from which to quote, in order to provide a light framework for the submitted pieces.