{"id":18963,"date":"2024-07-11T09:14:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T09:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artjournalstg.wpenginepowered.com\/?p=18963"},"modified":"2024-07-11T14:39:56","modified_gmt":"2024-07-11T14:39:56","slug":"the-oppositional-gaze-of-the-wayward-woman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/?p=18963","title":{"rendered":"The Oppositional Gaze of the Wayward Woman"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"has-text-color has-background has-very-dark-gray-color has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color wp-block-paragraph\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/nam04.safelinks.protection.outlook.com\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Flinkprotect.cudasvc.com%2Furl%3Fa%3Dhttp%253a%252f%252fartjournal.collegeart.org%252f%253fcat%253d16%26c%3DE%2C1%2CtQFyMlaytsQwr8EqTgR2NN4PTGLM7b7jBiBErNeBXi2yu4AbGfs4m56ZXr-bFrKjZ_ausKVLPxFQ-7vQ0HOf7SZcbwaeO4YaYHhT5bIzv683axo%2C%26typo%3D1&amp;data=05%7C01%7Cebell%40collegeart.org%7Cffcbb2e504b944c98b7108db8dde7dfe%7C5be38524b35d4fafa570f818ee1ed091%7C0%7C0%7C638259761371258830%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&amp;sdata=bIeNXlAeVf7In8rPHebcmFz4Bk68OUeP909O1ywebUs%3D&amp;reserved=0\">Contemporary Projects<\/a>\u202f<\/strong> features original projects driven by artists, designers, or curators, highlighting diverse, critical forms of knowledge directly produced by art and design practices.\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:20px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"alignnormal\"><div id=\"metaslider-id-18967\" style=\"max-width: 1000px; margin: 0 auto;\" class=\"ml-slider-3-19-1 ml-slider-pro-2-18-1 metaslider metaslider-flex metaslider-18967 ml-slider ml-slider-lightbox-1-11-3 lightbox-disabled ms-theme-architekt has-thumb-nav\">\n    <div id=\"metaslider_container_18967\">\n        <div id=\"metaslider_18967\" class=\"flexslider\">\n            <ul aria-live=\"polite\" class=\"slides\">\n                <li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/1.-narkita_009-150x100.jpg\" style=\"display: block; width: 100%;\" class=\"slide-18968 ms-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/1.-narkita_009.jpg\" class=\"slider-18967 slide-18968\" alt=\"\" rel=\"\" title=\"1. narkita_009\" style=\"margin: 0 auto; width: 75%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/1.-narkita_009.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/1.-narkita_009-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/1.-narkita_009-1000x1000.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/1.-narkita_009-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/1.-narkita_009-720x720.jpg 720w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/1.-narkita_009-560x560.jpg 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/li>\n                <li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2.-narkita_007-150x100.jpg\" style=\"display: none; width: 100%;\" class=\"slide-18969 ms-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2.-narkita_007.jpg\" class=\"slider-18967 slide-18969\" alt=\"\" rel=\"\" title=\"2. narkita_007\" style=\"margin: 0 auto; width: 75%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2.-narkita_007.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2.-narkita_007-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2.-narkita_007-1000x1000.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2.-narkita_007-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2.-narkita_007-720x720.jpg 720w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/2.-narkita_007-560x560.jpg 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/li>\n                <li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3.-narkita_002-150x100.jpg\" style=\"display: none; width: 100%;\" class=\"slide-18970 ms-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3.-narkita_002.jpg\" class=\"slider-18967 slide-18970\" alt=\"\" rel=\"\" title=\"3. narkita_002\" style=\"margin: 0 auto; width: 75%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3.-narkita_002.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3.-narkita_002-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3.-narkita_002-1000x1000.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3.-narkita_002-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3.-narkita_002-720x720.jpg 720w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/3.-narkita_002-560x560.jpg 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/li>\n                <li data-thumb=\"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/4.-narkita_005-150x100.jpg\" style=\"display: none; width: 100%;\" class=\"slide-18971 ms-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"1500\" src=\"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/4.-narkita_005.jpg\" class=\"slider-18967 slide-18971\" alt=\"\" rel=\"\" title=\"4. narkita_005\" style=\"margin: 0 auto; width: 75%\" srcset=\"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/4.-narkita_005.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/4.-narkita_005-500x500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/4.-narkita_005-1000x1000.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/4.-narkita_005-200x200.jpg 200w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/4.-narkita_005-720x720.jpg 720w, https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/4.-narkita_005-560x560.jpg 560w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1500px) 100vw, 1500px\" \/><\/li>\n            <\/ul>\n        <\/div>\n        \n    <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alongside my work exploring the possibilities of self-liberation through craft traditions, I am a picture maker. I was first drawn to self-portraiture as a means to find answers to questions about the internal transformation that is brought forth by my work with indigo dyeing, weaving, and hand sewing. But as I begin to center self in my lens-based practice to explore introspection in art, each image\u2014and my response to the prints\u2014reveals to me that this work is also an active engagement with the gaze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Growing up, my grandmother called me \u201cbeauty queen.\u201d At our family gatherings, my features and who I inherited my looks from were often a topic of debate. The compliments were almost never about my intellect or sharp wit, but about outward appearances. It was within these domestic spaces that I became acutely aware that I\u2019d been bestowed a commodity called beauty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">With pride, little me stepped out with an awareness that good looks afforded me a special privilege. But that certainty shifted when the unwelcome gaze from strangers became commonplace. It was in these power dynamics that I learned to look away, be aloof to a dominant stare, and at all cost, avoid casting a direct look back. I attempted to render myself invisible and as a result I hid from the person who I needed the most\u2014me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>If I am to be a spectacle, this is what I want the spectator to see\u2014a wayward woman. Ungovernable. Wild. Sensual. Free.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Inspired by introspection and change and led by my indifference to the demands of respectability, I document moments of awakening, self-love, acceptance, and feminine power. Each snapshot is a gesture of resistance. A challenge to authority. A map of my interior world that explores the liberatory potential of softness and self-intimacy. By sharing who I am and how I choose to show myself, I reclaim my own subjecthood and right to gaze back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Driven by my relationship with the camera and how my connection to the device changes over time, I shoot a pack of film in each setting, creating a series that can be traced through a period of time. I am also drawn to the instantaneous and brutally honest result of the Polaroid, which captures what would otherwise be edited in post-processing or concealed with a social media filter. The intimacy of the technology brings forth a process of experimentation and play with lighting and movement that is vulnerable and freeing. I also find poetics in the branching veins that appear in the corners of the black-and-white images.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">By breaking down the barrier between the artist and the subject, I become the performer, enacting choice each time I press the shutter button. Like a performance, these portraits are meant to be a generative force, to draw the viewer into my one-woman show motivated by agency, revealing Black womanhood in all its unattested complexities. This untitled series is in its embryonic phase. But even in its infancy this work proclaims that I exist. If I am to be a spectacle, this is what I want the spectator to see\u2014a wayward woman. Ungovernable. Wild. Sensual. Free. A protagonist in my own story, a story different from the one that has been scripted for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:42px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.narkita.com\">narkita<\/a> (she\/her) is a researcher, writer and interdisciplinary artist whose practice spans the mediums of photography, textiles, installation, and performance. She earned her BS in Public Relations in 2010, and a MA in Arts Politics from the Department of Art &amp; Public Policy, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University in 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An artist documents moments of awakening, acceptance, and feminine power. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":18960,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"kia_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-projects",""],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18963\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18960"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artjournal.collegeart.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}