Sher Fick - Artist Statement

As an artist, I never identified myself as a feminist. My being female was just a part of my biology, driving my sexual encounters and relations and the cause of reproduction. All of these feminist identifiers caused ambiguity within me. Constriction, restraint, feelings of abuse, and invisibility were the products of my femininity. In no way was I called to wave the feminist banner. I did not want someone to give me credit for or look at my art only through the pink lenses of feminism. I feel art should stand on its own as to content and visual principles of design. Does the viewer really need to know that a female created a work? For years I de-feminized my subject matter, colors, and construction.

Unfortunately, this separatist attitude developed into a denial of my complete person. I AM a woman. I AM a wife. I AM a mother. I loved playing with dolls as a child. I love to sew and crochet. As I began an archeological dig culturally, psychologically, and personally, I re-discovered and acknowledged – for the first time – my feminine history and existence. My works now include the very ambiguity I feel over this issue.

The use of domestic and childhood materials and constructions of fabric and vintage apparel reveal the paradox of the life of a woman artist. By questioning what femininity means to myself, I offer a record of one artist’s journey into acceptance and the embrace of the feminine spirit I have denied for years. My work now reflects the depolarization of my artist/feminine self.

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