point mouse at thumbnails
to view larger image
name
Julie Guyot
media
art
education
Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale
BFA Ceramics, 1994
Historically women have worked creatively with processes and materials that can be easily accessed in the home environment. Using fabric and paper or exploring the needlearts for example has allowed women to be creative while still managing a family and a home. These projects are compact and can be quickly and easily stowed away after those short bursts of creative time she is afforded between household tasks. Because of the many responsibilities and roles women have, they tend to create things that have a function most especially for the home or the family for fear of seeming frivolous with their time. In the past, creative projects included anything pertaining to decorating the home, knitting functional items and quilting. More recently the scrapbooking craze has allowed a creative outlet for millions of women while still managing to be a project that preserves not only her family's special moments, but seems to document and illuminate every moment of the family's otherwise normal life. All in the name of a weekly creative outlet for women. Historically, women have also been denied access to the artworld for various reasons. I am interested in the issues that this history has created. Women have been told that they can do whatever they want, yet still lack the esteem to make artwork that is completely frivolous for fear of being selfish. This need to create functional objects even led to inventing uses for hand-made objects such as the toaster cozy or teapot cozy. This historical creative phenomenon can be looked at through exploring marriage and the role of women throughout history using my family's experience and my own recent marriage. Women's roles have changed and choices have been given. What we tell ourselves and what society tells us are no match for years of history. As much as we try to form our own independent ideas, in the end we still battle with those contradictions in our struggle to find our own identity and establish our new role.
My work elevates traditional craft materials to a 'high art' status. I use these materials to make objects that are useless. By changing the context of the object, the lines between art and craft become blurred.