Fibers artist weaves past and present images of beauty

MATT HEISTAND/Arizona Daily Wildcat

Art graduate student Darden Bradshaw, left, puts the finishing touches on her weaving with the help of 39-year-old Tucson resident Gail Carnako yesterday afternoon in the Lionel Ronbach Gallery. The 6-foot by 9-foot piece entitled "The Reincarnation of Venus" opens today.

Master of Fine Arts student Darden Bradshaw challenges the societal beauty queens in Cosmo and Mademoiselle with her thesis exhibition piece - a large-scale tapestry recreating and subverting Sandro Botticelli's painting "Birth of Venus."

More than 600 years ago, Boticelli's Renaissance masterpiece of the Roman goddess Venus, an easily recognizable image, set a standard for female beauty that has been imitated ever since.

Compare the standard Cosmo cover girl to Venus. Both share a tumbling mane of curls that suggest "I just finished a match of amorous wrestling," round and firm breasts, a toned stomach and bare an excess of paint-brushed (or airbrushed) nude skin.

By superimposing the image of her own face on Venus, Bradshaw redefines the beauty ideals she believes are based on unattainable social constructs.

Bradshaw is interested in family relationships within the context of personal beauty. In the tapestry, the traditional figures representing wind are replaced with Bradshaw's family members, and the figure representing spring waiting to cloak Venus is her partner.

"I've been working with issues of body, beauty, representation and family during my time at the University of Arizona," Bradshaw explained. "This piece is the result of three years of exploring these themes and trying to communicate my personal beliefs about beauty and relationship."

Both utilitarian and artistic, tapestries were used as decorative elements in castles during the Middle Ages and Renaissance eras. They recorded historical, biblical and mythical events, as well as portraiture.

Now, in the 21st century, Bradshaw has created both a portrait, historical and cultural tapestry that hangs in the Lionel Rombach Gallery.

Bradshaw wove the 6-foot by 9-foot piece in a traditional tapestry method using a 6 foot-tall loom. She used materials such as linen, silk, cotton and wool.

Fibers is gaining exposure in the art world. Bradshaw's work is a welcome addition to the regular rotation of exhibitions at the gallery.

Erin Hesser, director of the Lionel Rombach Gallery and UA photography senior, said, "It's (the gallery exhibitions) mostly photography and painting, so it's a nice change to have fibers."

Although fiber is a traditional medium, and "The Birth of Venus" is cemented in the cannon of art history, Bradshaw sees herself breaking new ground in the field.

"I weave in a traditional way but work outside of traditional boundaries," Bradshaw said. "The contemporary edge is (reflected) in my subject, colors and the way I weave."

Unlike traditional flat tapestry surfaces, Bradshaw uses a specific weaving technique that produces a surface with both convex and concave areas. This texture conveys a sense of movement, the result of her eccentric work process.

The title of Bradshaw's show, "The Chrysalis," refers to the cocoon that provides a home for the pupa before it emerges as a butterfly. Bradshaw relates the process to her own experience as a UA student.

"To the outside world, it looks like nothing is happening, while an internal struggle and important work is going on inside that allows the pupa to metamorphosize as a butterfly," she said.

"The Chrysalis" is on display at the Lionel Rombach Gallery, located near the UA Museum of Art, today through Dec. 5. The opening reception is Friday, Nov. 16, from 8 to 10 p.m. at the gallery.