Patricia Olson

Feminist Revisioning has grown out of my study of art history and my analysis of the current state of feminism. The figure, a self-portrait, mimics the stance of those European heroic paintings of dragon slayers and imperious princes. While not appropriating any specific work, I was thinking of Perseus beheading Medusa, St. George slaying the dragon, Van Dyck's portrait of Charles I, Velasquez's Spanish court, the Sun King; all those men confidently gazing out at the viewer with certainty and a sword to back it up. There aren't that many women brandishing swords in art history: Delacroix's “Liberty at the Barricades,” the odd Judith decapitating Holofernes. The stance and the sword in these paintings imply power and righteous action – both qualities that feminism embodies at the beginning of the twenty-first century. I am not condoning violence by using the sword as a symbol, but rather using its qualities as a visual metaphor.

Feminism, for me, has also meant that we take responsibility for the consequences of our actions, are aware that our actions have reactions into the future. The mop, a domestic instrument par excellence , represents this important aspect. Even after we (metaphorically, righteously) lop off their heads, someone needs to stick around to clean up. Even as we change the world for the better, there will be real human suffering to attend to. The mop in this painting is the equal of the sword – and the mop head visually resurrects Medusa whose serpent-hair symbolizes ancient feminine wisdom. The mop, and women's knowledge of how to use it, is what makes feminism different from all the other isms of history.

Operation Mopping Up is a piece that has grown out of the imagery of Feminist Revisioning as my response to the current war in Iraq. Besides the mop images, the clothes line installation also refers to domestic work, hanging out our dirty laundry, so to speak. The names are those persons who have died as a direct result of this war (found on www.iraqbodycount.net for Iraqi and other civilians and www.icasualties.org for Coalition soldiers). This project is on-going and I will add sheets until this war is over.

Patricia Olson
January 2005