Reclaimed & “Options”
In a world where extremes are becoming ever more pronounced, where women are still afraid to walk the streets at night, it is important to talk about the following. What does it mean to be a woman? And what does it mean not to be one? Amber Niewijk (2005) her work is not merely about herself as a woman and being a woman in today’s society, but it is about what it means to be human in it as well.
From the beginning we learn
Learn to be careful around unknow men
Learn to be aware of our surroundings
Learn to be able to get away
Learn to expect and be ready for the worst
Amber Niewijk is an artist that puts the focus on matters related to the female form and the expectations put on them. She creates to move feelings, move the mind, move opinions, to create movement in ideas and hopefully reality. It can be seen as feminist objection against the way society shapes women and how they are perceived and expected to be. Looking at the way bodies and relations are shaped trough societal views, and how birth control plays a role in this.
She creates work that carries a story and a voice. Materials and techniques like embroidery, fabric and the use of colour connects the works to the position women were put in historically as well as in recent times. The voices she portrays is a fusion of her personal experiences. She uses the medium to place her lived experience within broader social experiences of womanhood. Through her work she hopes to make visible to others with similar experiences that they are not alone, giving form to issues that often remain unseen within the bigger picture. Give a voice to what is overlooked more times than should when matter of importance is named.
