#Hilma, MeToo

Artist, Mary Kainer

2019

The six #Hilma, Me Too drawings take their inspiration from the abstract works of Hilma af Klint.   

Like the Klint works, the drawings are large works on paper with tempera paint as the primary medium.  In paying homage to Klint, the drawings draw upon similar shapes, lettering, and colours. The 1907 Klint works are rooted in spirituality and come from the tradition of séances and the guidings of a spirit muse. 

Kainer’s 2019 series, however, were created at the height of the Me Too movement.  Each drawing is a response to aspects of misogyny.  When you’re a Star has starfish-like tentacles reaching out and floating amidst Trump’s quote “When you are a star you can grab them by the pussy”.  Sin Began with a Woman contains misogynistic religious sayings and iconography. No Means No displays party-aftermath-like scene of balls, phalluses and burst balloons.  Whimsical sperms and eggs depict gendercide in The War on Baby Girls.  Colour wheels swirl with information about Unequal Pay for women and caregivers.  Pretty flowers and ribbons mask the words that abound in Rape Culture.

One of these drawings, When you’re a star.. has been exhibited in the juried Salon 14 at Propeller Gallery, 01/2020.