ROSES
Final Year Project | NCAD Works 2022
This work focuses on womanhood, the portrayal of women in the media, and the depiction of violence against women in popular culture. This work toys with the male gaze, mixing the female body with mythological creatures and animals. It also references weapons that have been used against women – like the “Schold’s Bridle”: a medieval device used to silence women – as well as modern day forms of weapons.
For years my voice has been silenced, spoken over, or told it wasn’t right. This is how I found my voice.
COMPLETED WORKS
I BROUGHT A ROSE TO A KNIFE FIGHT
I wrote this poem about being misunderstood when completing my portfolio for art college titled 'I Brought A Rose To A Knife Fight'. It has followed me through the 3 years and this final project is a way of letting it go, hence the title 'Roses'.
I brought a rose to a knife fight
I wore yellow to a funeral
I whispered during a protest
And the only time I can seem to open my mouth is when I’m swimming.
“That isn’t what I meant” is my middle name.
While everyone’s busy climbing the trees, trying to reach the sky
I'm below kicking the rust leaves, searching for a rabbit hole to fall down
I suppose we’re all just looking for an escape from the ground
But those climbing have started using others as ladders to reach the top
And those below digging have just made graves for the ones that fall.
We’re all too busy searching for the afterlife that we never find life.
I want to tell them that the clouds taste the same as the rivers, and lakes, and
melting land below
And that Wonderland is just the sun in the ground and if we don’t stop now,
we're all going to burn.
But here I am in a rose garden with a knife
And everyone’s wondering why the roses are covered in blood.
INTERVIEW WITH BRIDGET LAWLESS
Writer, editor, and founder of the 'Staunch Test'.
Bridget Lawless is a author, editor, and screenwriter who founded the Staunch Prize. Staunch Book Prizes are awarded to novels, short stories or flash fiction in the thriller genre in which no woman is beaten, stalked, sexually exploited, raped or murdered.
I had the privilege of interviewing Bridget as part of my research process into the depiction of violence against women in popular culture.
