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Beyond the Mundane

Growing up in the '50's and '60's my gender role was pigeonholed into a clearly defined category of femaleness. There were certain expectations of me as a female that were contrary to defined male roles. In "Beyond the Mundane" I give consideration to those objects in the house that are mundane, utilitarian objects: cleaning supplies, electronic parts and construction materials, specially chosen objects that might be associated with femaleness or maleness. I have manipulated and re-contextualized them into a new form removing their function and embracing androgyny. I observe viewers of my work initially responding to the abstractness of the objects. However, once cognizant of what it actually is, there is a shift in perception and identity: women identify more readily with the cleaning supplies, men with objects associated with tech or construction. This gives cause to re-evaluate assumptions and stereotypes. While gender is a construct and not a binary, do we still pigeonhole ourselves into an ill-defined collection of behaviors and characteristics that we have decided are male or female?