Rea Burton
Golden Necklace
“At that time it was summertime in Dallas. All Yellow. O didn’t remember anything in or about the first period of her childhood. After not remembering, she remembered the jewels. When her mother had died, a jewel case had been opened. The case, consisting of one tray, had insides of red velvet. O knew that this was also her mother’s cunt.”
This research project has sought to access a kind of female sacredness through a filthy celebration of sex, bodily fluids, piss, social taboos, female pleasure and death; asking how each of these may be used in a journey of a woman's self-acceptance. The humorous, theatrical, decorative and grotesque body has been used to discuss various femme dilemmas. This collection of paintings aims to critique the capitalist objectification and infantilisation of women’s bodies. The deliberate use of “bad taste” is to undermine the problematic histories of the female nude in Western art. Because of these haunted histories, painting has been chosen as an appropriate platform to examine and critique the representation of the female.
Glittering in garish colours, textures and materials, physical objects are attached to the paintings, aiming to bring the subjects of the paintings closer to the viewer's experience of the space. In these works, female urination is manifested through materials such as glitter and beads, highlighting a presence that undermines the highly erotisised nude in Western art. It is also used to complicate the ways women experience their bodies, at times wanting to be invisible and at other times wanting to be on display, especially when situated in unsafe, male-dominated public spaces. In Golden Necklace, women perform the private act of pissing in public, and we are unsure if we should be looking or not. These works also look at how female sexuality is often associated with animals such as “bunnies” and “sex kittens” and, when taking on the characteristics of animals, they are often seen as submissive and existing solely for men’s pleasure. Here, the “female animal” exists for her own pleasure, taking control of her own sexuality and power.