Seamed is influenced by the history of flower painting, the domestic space, and the social construction of femininity. Flower painting began as a sphere of high accomplishment, usually painted by male artists for high regard and high prices. This soon changed when the genre became a predominantly female practice; it then became regarded as a petty, genteel female accomplishment.
Domesticity is a realm of experience set apart from that which is public, yet intimately connected to it, and one that has come to be defined as female. This work embraces this space and reveals it to be complicated, constrictive, obsessive and maybe slightly menacing.
My practice examines the feminine relationship with looking, 'male gaze', as the authorship of looking has been historically masculine. Reflecting on the patriarchal systems that govern not only the art world, but also the visual world, I am re-looking at the traditionally feminine and domestic based 'crafts', often associated with women.
