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Professor explores gender in campus art show |
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Thursday, 24 January 2008 |
by ALISON MEANEY
Intern Lifestyles Editor
Can butch women be beautiful?
This question is raised by Jessica E. Burke’s progressive new art show, “Gender Narratives,” currently on display in Looking Glass Gallery of Plemmons Student Union.
Burke, a first-year art professor, has created images depicting proud women that transcend the cultural faux pas of non-feminine females.
“I am interested in the idea of ‘acceptable femininity’ and specifically presenting portraits of women that
defy the stereotype,” she said. “Gender is a cultural construction. We are not born understanding this
binary constriction. It is something we are taught from an early age by the cartoons we watch, the toys
we play with and the clothes chosen for us to wear, among other things.”
The main theme in the “Gender Narratives” portraits is women who would strike the average person as
gay at first glance - be it because of short hair, large muscles or baggy jeans.
 A student passes by the Looking Glass Gallery Monday afternoon. The gallery currently has “Gender Narratives” on display, a new art show by art professor Jessica Burke. Photo by Alisha Park
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These abrasive, yet warm, portraits are contrasted by two small portraits of female youngsters and
were recently just added to the collection.
Burke said these paintings were included to explore how gender roles are given to and learned by
children, not necessarily inherent at a young age.
“I wanted to create a dialogue about the role of popular culture in the
formation of these ideas of gender…The most important element in both
[paintings] is the object over each girl’s shoulder, the transformer
and the fairytale castle.”
The corresponding images of full-grown women portray a sense of grace; the women’s gazes are
unfaltering and unashamed, she said.
“The women I choose to paint are a visual depiction of people living outside…constraints, creating their
own niche in a system that constantly makes them aware of their otherness,” Burke said.
"You never see portraits of butch women ... They’re beautiful people and it doesn’t matter what they look like."
-Ren L. Phillips
Junior, Studio art major
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Visitors to the collection find themselves contemplating the complex notion of gender.
“You never see portraits of butch women,” said Ren L. Phillips, a junior studio art major. “They’re
beautiful people and it doesn’t matter what they look like.”
Phillips also said Burke is “shedding light on a stereotype.”
These portraits are rendered with an abundance of color and personality, and speak to how our culture
perceives those who do not (or will not) play by our cultural rules.
Josh D. McCauley, a sophomore technical photography major, believes the collection raises sexist questions to its viewers.
“When dudes dress like girls it gets a different reaction than when girls dress like dudes…because
when I look at something like this I immediately think this girl is a lesbian, but does wearing skinny
jeans make me gay?”
Burke has been teaching Foundations Drawing, Drawing II, Illustration, and Art Appreciation at
Appalachian since August 2007.
The Looking Glass Gallery is located in the river hallway of the student union.
“Gender Narratives” is Burke’s first art show in Boone and will be on display through Feb. 8.
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