The female image in the paintings are influenced by the viewpoint of painters. The viewpoint here means how to see women. The gender difference of female and male painters results in different viewpoints to see women and different expressions of them....
The female image in the paintings are influenced by the viewpoint of painters. The viewpoint here means how to see women. The gender difference of female and male painters results in different viewpoints to see women and different expressions of them. This study aimed to find out the different viewpoints between female and male painters, which are reflected in female figure paintings, to discuss characteristic themes and expressions of female figure paintings drawn by female and male painters in the recent times, and to compare them with those of the researcher's female figure paintings.
Historically, women were regarded in the ancient times as mother of the earth who is "the subject" that controls the world and creates lives. In the patriarchal society, they were regarded as "the other" that depends on men who are active and plays a central role in the society. In both the West and the Orient, the viewpoint on women was divided to either "the sexual object" such as the evil woman, enchantress and femme fatale or "the non-sexual object" such as the saintess, virgin and mother. These viewpoints were reflected in the female images drawn by male painters, who viewed women as "the object to be expressed" and reproduced them in paintings the way they wanted. In the recent times, female painters who became active thanks to the advertising, viewed and expressed women the way they learned to, that is, the way how men viewed and expressed women, rather than expressed women's unique sexual characteristics and selfhood.
The female images, which were seen as "the sexual object" in the recent times' paintings, were expressed as a nude woman in the Western paintings and a beauty in the Oriental paintings. The female images as "the non-sexual object" were expressed as mother-and-child which was the ideal embodiment of women among male painters. In the earlier recent times' female figure paintings, the different viewpoints of male and female painters were not noticeable. The later it was in the recent times, the more unique characteristics of women became to be expressed in female figure paintings. This is because female painters broke away from the influence of traditional male viewpoints and created their own, free painting methods.
Unlike male painters who used to draw the ideal female figure, female painters, who drew females figures as the "subjects who make the art of creative expression," dealt with "reflection of self" and "maternal emotion." Their expression is characterized as concrete shapes, decorative tendency, handicraft-like elaborateness, sensitive and sharp brush lines and splendid colors. Their expression involves both the viewpoint that sees women as "the object to be expressed" and "self image" that projects their psyche into female models. This indicates the ambivalent viewpoint of female painters who draw female figures, which reveals the conflict between the feminity that the society has built and imposed upon them and the internal self. Another common theme of female painters, "expression of motherhood," comes in realistic feature.
Motherhood is a complicated emotional state where the self as virgin should be given up upon and transformed into a new self, which carries the pain of disintegration. After the early recent times, therefore, it is difficult to see, in the female painters' paintings, the mothers who are beautified as happy. This is in contrast with male painters' expression of motherhood that shows mother-and-child images and the ideal female images of giving birth to life and giving indefinite and sacrificial love.
Based on the earlier study, the researcher's female figure paintings have been analyzed in comparison with other female painters' as following:
In the female figure paintings of the researcher, her confused dual state of mind is reflected, and thus, one can see both 'the viewpoint that sees women as an object,' which is the viewpoint of the female painters in the recent times, and 'the viewpoint that sees women as the subject.' Such a confusion is observed in the researcher's female figure paintings, of which expression style has been influenced both by the 'men's viewpoint that sees women as a sexual object' and the will to express self as a subject.'
The researcher's 1st generation female figure paintings were painted from a 'girlish viewpoint.' They reveal that the researcher has been affected by the typical composition or the expression of a human figure as observed in the Chosun Art Exhibition. It is because the researcher pursued to draw the human figure paintings in a way that is acceptable for the objective standard, rather than express her personality freely, since she went through the period where she learned the style of human figure paintings through the Korean Art Exhibition.
In terms of the themes, researcher's female figure paintings have not been affected by the contemporary trend. The theme of her paintings is a reflection of her self; 'the self in the reality' and 'the self that pursues transcendence.' This tendency is similar to other female painters' in that she is interested in and find her themes from her self or daily routines. This is in line with the female psyche and can also be seen in the paintings of Raehyun Park and Kyungja Chun, and also in the researcher's paintings. 'The self in the reality' is expressed mainly in the figure paintings of Raehyun Park, and 'the self that pursues transcendence' in Kyungja Chun's.
In terms of the expression style, the researcher's paintings show 'the mixture of concrete and abstract expressions,' 'use of colors and black-and white,' 'formative blending of letters and drawings,' and 'complexed viewpoints and layered structure.' The 'complexed viewpoints and layered structure' are also found in the works of Raehyun Park in the post-liberation period. The features such as feminine technique and methods are also commonly seen in the female figure painters' works in the recent times.
There is a difference between the social environments of the recent times female painters and the researcher. Therefore, the researcher's works take the themes which are sometimes similar to and sometimes different from those of the female painters' in the recent times. This is because the identity of artists are influenced by the individual elements such as character or personality and the social environmental elements such as the biological gender difference.
By looking at female figure paintings from various aspects, this study examined the characteristic viewpoints of males and females, and also their expressions that are intrinsic in the female images. It also looked at the changes of viewpoints and expressions in researcher's figure paintings. When expressed in the paintings, such an 'identity' was inflected or expressed as a metaphor because of the social environment that distinguishes women from men. This is an evidence that the biological gender has an impact on the creative works of artists. The researcher's identity as a woman also influenced her themes and expression styles.
It therefore enabled to analyze the researcher's figure paintings not only in terms of the techniques and styles but also in terms of the change of themes resulting from the change of identity. It is hoped that the researcher's future creative works, that will be expressed through the subjective viewpoint, will indeed reflect the feminine identity.