This piece is a response to Eddie Arning's Two Men With Big Pistols on display in the Program on Intergroup Relations exhibit at UMMA.
This wearable sculpture is composed of three parts: a pink , purple, silk and lace puff quilt vest, two patchwork soft sculptures in the form of pistols, and a pink, pearl adorned ski-mask . I created this by improvising patterns using scrap fabrics, which yielded the flat abstract geometric shapes and colors of the finished piece- similar to the use of color and abstraction in Arning’s oil pastel work. I was inspired by the use of pink in Arning's piece, and am using the color pink to portray whiteness and challenge dated and dangerous forms of masculinity.
I made this sculpture to confront and challenge the violence of white, cisgender men against women and society at large. While any person can experience violence, a study by the FBI in 2007 reports that 90% of men are perpetrators of criminal violence (APA, 2018). This piece addresses the harm that toxic masculinity has inflicted on women and men, especially people of color, and portrays that branch of masculinity as a weapon, and a bruise that bares men and society.
American Psychological Association. (2018, September). Harmful masculinity and violence. In the Public Interest.
http://www.apa.org/pi/about/newsletter/2018/09/harmful-masculinity
