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Trauma, Gender and Art:

The Confessional Work of The Reluctant Feminist Artists

Industrial Investigation
Contemporary Creative Practice

Mr. Stewart Utley

British University Vietnam

Hanoi, Vietnam

30th April, 2021

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Trauma, Gender and Art:

The Confessional Work of The Reluctant Feminist Artists

Introduction

While art and design can sometimes be considered abstracted, clean or

separated from the emotions of the producer, they still can be a tool for self-expression

and a lens through which analyses the art. While Roland Barthes proclaimed the “death

of the author” and this seems to suggest that the author isn’t always in control of their

creations, he still suggested art can be a form of subconscious means of expression

(Barthes, 1977, p142). In other words, as modern art became popular it also became

popular to think of art only "for art's sake." Clearly, though, art, even in its most abstract

forms, can be considered to express the emotions of the artist. It is this kind of self-

expression of trauma that women artists have continued to engage with even after

Barthes’ proclamation.

Contemporary art can be difficult to understand, especially for non-experts.

However, emotions and curiosity can still be aroused, which navigates the viewers

towards the stories, either biographical or fictional, behind the works. While this may

seem "naive", it could be relevant to the work of female artists and an important

component to analysis of their work. Female artists are often mistaken as "outsider

artists" or considered too emotional for the relationship between their art and their
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personal lives, yet this essay argues that both are integral to the analysis of female

artwork.

The focus of this essay is to explore how gendered trauma is reflected in the

work of women artists and to consider the effects of this art. Many studies have looked

at trauma and femininity independently when analyzing art, however there is a lack of

studies or analysis which links these two notions. While some theorists, such as

Griselda Pollock, do link these notions, the focus of this research paper is to more

strongly link these two ideas, particularly the relation to the biographies and some of the

stated aims of the artists. The investigation into gendered trauma in the works of Louise

Bourgeois and Tracey Emin can serve as the foundation for a potential theoretical lens

for future art analysis. Specifically, it uses the idea posited by Pollock in analysis of

female artwork as a lens through which both fictional and biographies of gendered

traume can provide another valuable perspective.

Theoretical Background

Art and Trauma

Trauma can broadly be defined as a disturbing experience or as a bodily or

psychic injury (Kulesakara, 2016). For instance, incidents such as war, terrorism or

natural disasters are associated with physical and psychological wounding that later

become the unseen trauma and could be projected onto the future as an "intrinsic

nature" (Kulesakara, 2016, p36). Taking a look at the "Garden of Fugitives" (figure 1)
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and the artwork "Body at Rest'' by Atony Gormely (figure 2), it can be seen that there is

a vague connection between a historical trauma and the visual sense of the

contemporary piece with a more aesthetic touch (Kulesakara, 2016, p37). Art historian

Griselda Pollock, in considering the long history of western art, describes “five defining

features of trauma; perpetual presentness, permanent absence, irrepresentibility,

belatedness and transmissibility." (Kulesakara, 2016, p46). Kulesakara, an artist who

investigates trauma, suggests in relation to Pollock’s definition, “a traumatized person

carries an impossible history within them or becomes the symptom of a history that they

cannot entirely possess” (Kulesakara, 2016). The artist affected by trauma, then, feels

like the injury or trauma is always present, that there is something always missing inside

them, that they can’t quite represent that trauma, that the feelings of injury come later

and seep into other aspects of their lives and art. (Pollock, 2013)

Figure 1. Garden of The Fugitives (date of excavation: 1961-62, 1973-74). [Cast of 13

victims from Vesuvius Eruption in Pompeii]. Amusing Planet.

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Figure 2. Gormely, A. (2000-2010). Body at Rest. Ball Works. Antony Gormely website.

Some studies have said that trauma is not in the realm of the amateur but is an

essential quality in creating “serious” art. In “Putting the “Pain” in Painting: A

Conceptualization and Consideration of Serious Art,” J. Ryan Napier attempt to define

the notion of serious art. In doing so, he suggests that some might say that “some

degree of pain, whether it be mental, physical or spiritual must be endured to create

serious art” (Napier, 2014, p50). He argues that such art allows both artists and viewers

to work through such trauma (p52). This may be very relevant to the study of the artists

in this paper. (Thus not only does the presence of trauma define and accredit the

artwork, but is a medium through which both artist and those experiencing the art and

utilize as they make sense of their own traumatic experiences).

Other studies have noted the relationship between art and trauma. Some

consider the connection between the expression of trauma in art (or the use of art to

recover from trauma) as something that is done by amateurs. In an interesting study of

“outsider” artists, Daniel Wojcik has suggested that taking a “behavioral perspective”
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from folklore studies offers useful insights into artistic expression (Wojcik, 2008, p180).

He notes that outsider artists have long “created art in response to adversity, suffering

and personal crisis” (p187). Perhaps the same could be said for female artists who,

though not technically “outsider” artists, have essentially been pushed to the outside.

Without diving too deep into the field of psychology, it is worth noting that an

entire therapeutic area is dedicated to the use of art in healing from trauma. Schouten

et. al, for example, in a systematic review, have concluded that there is at least some

evidence for the value of different types of art therapy in reducing depression and

lessening the effects of trauma (Schouten, et al., 2015, p226). Dori Laub and Daniel

Poddell, in the International Journal of Psychoanalysis, have also discussed the

important connection between expression of trauma and art. For Laub and Poddell,

some traumas actually take away the ability to express trauma and that victims “cannot

articulate trauma even to themselves” (Laub and Poddell, 1995,p992). They say that

trauma may destroy memory or may exist only as a kind of haunting memory. In their

opinion, “only a special kind of art, which we shall designate ‘the art of trauma’, can

begin to achieve a representation of that which defies representation in both inner and

outer experience” (p992). Theorists in this field seem to agree that communication in art

has the ability to express trauma that is almost inexpressible. Laub and Poddell

conclude with the discussion of a female poet/patient that “it is through her art that she

begins to own and negotiate her own separate voice” (p1003). Therefore, artwork

provides female artists the agency to communicate and identify with their own trauma.

Based on these various perspectives on trauma and its influence on art, it is

clear that trauma could be an important theoretical lens for the examination of art. Art
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may be a means to heal trauma. More importantly for this paper, trauma could possibly

be expressed in creativity and understood as a source of inspiration. Trauma may also

be an important concern for audience and critics to observe artists who are said to be

on the “outside.”

Feminist Perspective

While the focus of this paper is not strictly about “feminism", the artists explored

are female artists and their traumas are often related to their positions as women.

Important early feminist work establishes the idea that the creativity of women comes

from or at least deserves a special space. Helene Cixous’ call for a feminine writing is

very relevant to this discussion. Writing in creating is something that women have had

to fight for. It has traditionally been the woman’s body that has been represented in art

by men. This itself is one kind of trauma. While the women artists mentioned are not

necessarily making feminist statements, they are working in a world that suppresses

female creativity. Helene Cixous writes that “woman must put herself into the text”

(Cixous, 1976, p875). She calls for what these female artists now do: writing based on a

personal history of trauma against the female body and identity. Cixous sees women as

outsiders to culture who must “return from afar, from always: from “without,” from the

heath where witches are kept alive; from below, from beyond culture”; from their

childhood which men have been trying desperately to make them forget…”(p877).

Women’s writing and art, then, regardless of topic, is a creative act that incorporates or
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deals with a cultural gendered trauma and, often, a personal gendered trauma. Cixous

says that “by writing herself, a woman will return to the body which has been more than

confiscated from her,” and so Cixous calls on the woman artist: “Write yourself. Your

body must be heard” (Cixous, 1976, p880)

Important feminist critic Judith Butler, who introduced the notion of the

“performativity” of gender (the idea that there is no “gender” until we perform acts that

are gendered) is also important background for this summary (Butler, 2009, i). First, all

artists are “performing” in a way and the subject of their pieces, as shown below, can

sometimes be considered a performance of gender. But Butler refines her idea of

performativity and adds the idea of “precarity” to gender. For Butler, precarity as a part

of gender focuses on “conditions that threaten life in ways that appear to be outside of

one’s control” (Butler, 2009, i). While Butler focuses her attention on those who are

seen to be outside of social norms (queer, transgender, sex workers), the key idea in

relation to the women artists I will consider is that while the artists perform, society

decides “who counts as a life, who can be read or understood as a living being” (Butler,

2009, iv). While an artist might perform gender and identity, the artist is also constrained

to act in certain ways. Butler asks an important question that could be asked throughout

this paper: “how does the unspeakable population speak and make its claim” (Butler,

2009, xiii). Or, in other words, how do artists who have experienced gendered trauma,

perform their identities in their art.

Gendered trauma--trauma that is directly related to the experience or

performance of gender--is a concern that falls under a feminist lens. Gendered trauma

might also create an experience that is closely related to the experience of being a
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woman. As Cixous suggests, women need to find a voice. Trauma victims also search

for a means of expression. There is likely an overlap between the lens of “trauma” and

the “feminist” lens as they interact to form new perspectives on artwork.

Gender, Trauma and Art

In their important volume, Trauma Narratives and Herstory, Sonya Andermarh

and Silvia Pellicer-Ortin (2013) look into the representation of trauma in both literature

and art, stressing the importance of re-presenting trauma in a woman’s voice. They are

concerned with broadening trauma studies to include “more individual forms of trauma

produced by marginalisation, racial or sexual abuse” (Andermarh, 2013, p2). They note

that “cultural texts have increasingly become privileged spaces for the representation of

individual and collective traumas in our contemporary age, arguably providing a means

of transforming traumatic memories into narrative memories” (p2). They add that

literature and art that deals with gendered trauma has the potential to “disclose silenced

accounts of history, experiment with the ways in which trauma can be represented, and

attempt to deal with these experiences of human suffering” (p3). Their work explores the

ways the “representation process of suffering and pain contribute to the subject’s

survival and the “healing of hidden wounds” (p3).

Reina Van der Wiel, in discussing the work of novelist Jeanette Winterson and

the painting of Frida Kahlo, has raised the questions of the relationship between an

artist's “story” and her art mentioned in the introduction. Van der Wiel has states that

there is some danger in focusing too closely on autobiography--even when reading

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personal stories or looking at self portraiture--as she quotes Winterson who says that

“the focus is on the woman, rather than the work” (Winterson, as quoted in Van der

Wiel, 2009, p7). Winterson’s real concern, Van der Wiel suggests, is that the female

artist’s biography is often used by men, by the patriarchal art community, to interpret

and control women’s art that in itself often tries to speak to experience (p10). Van der

Wiel concludes that “the temporary ‘freedom’ gained by (re)creating one’s traumatic

past or personal life within one’s art may come at a price. Rather than seeing it as an

escape ...work as ceaselessly re-enacting her founding trauma”(p28). She further

suggests that it is not so much “truth” that we are looking for in this art, but the blending

of the truth of trauma, autobiography and creativity that can make the work not just for

the artist but for everyone.

Figure 3. Abramson, T (2017). I'm Screaming Inside. Photo source: BREATH website
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Conceivably, visual artist Tania Love Abramson put it best in “Unchain my

anguish: a feminist take on art and trauma” when she simply writes “severe trauma

informs artistic visions no less than aesthetic evaluations of the work itself” (Abramson,

2019, p190). She goes on to say that while male artists certainly are affected by or

engage with trauma in their work, there is a feeling when looking at the art of many

women that raises the question: “how did severe trauma ‘select’ women? (In this case,

women who eventually became artists.) And was it random or targeted?” (Abramson,

2019, p192). For Abramson it comes down partly to the targeting of female victims in

sexual violence. It is this “theft,” as Abramson calls it, of sexuality that so prominently

affects women and so prominently appears as an issue in art (Abramson, 2019, p193).

“Is it any wonder then,” Abramson asks, “that Kara Walker conflates racism, sexuality

and gender into her artwork or that Luzene Hill, a Native American artist, formulates the

traces of a brutal rape within the context of sexual violence against Native American

women?” (Abramson, 2019, p194). Gendered trauma is a large area of concern to be

brushed away out of concern and artworks themselves cannot be observed without the

particular aspects of biography or trauma.

Artwork Analysis

The analysis of artwork will consider biographical information and will be

interpreted through the lenses of trauma and feminism. In order to look at specific

examples of gendered trauma, the following section will look at two female artists in the
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framework of the five characteristics of trauma from Pollock: "perpetual presentness,

permanent absence, irrepresentibility, belatedness and transmissibility".

Louise Bourgeois

Louise Bourgeois was a French - American artist, born in Paris in a family with a

textile background, specializing in tapestry weaving. From appearances, Bourgeois

seemed to grow up with certain privileges being exposed to a lot of opportunities in the

creative fields, little did anyone know about the domestic drama happening in her

adolescence. Despite being remarkably close with her mother Josephine, who passed

away due to the Spanish flu when Louise was only twenty-one, there was always some

tension going on in the relationship between the artist and her father, due to his affair

with her British au pair, Sadie (The Easton Foundation, unknown). It is to be believed

that these occurrences later led to the process of forming Bourgeois's autobiographical

charisma in her art practice. (The Easton Foundation, unknown)

The art of Louise Bourgeois is often considered to carry powerful themes of

domesticity, family, the human body, sexuality, fidelity, abandonment and death (Tate,

The Art Story, unknown). Bourgeois, throughout her life, has explored these topics with

art experimentation using diverse media, producing artworks that are most often large-

scale with an abstract look. In many ways, Bourgeois work stands on its own as

something aesthetic, as a modern sculpture that can be called “non-representational.”

Her work is not necessarily about anything but is an exercise in form. At the same time,

there is a darkness and shattered quality in her work that hint at raw emotions and
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trauma that will be discussed below. Her personal experience is also important to

consider before looking at her artworks.

Figure 4. Bourgeois, L (1943). Untitled. [Ink on colored paper]. New York: MoMa.

Bourgeois had created a numerous amount of untitled artworks throughout her

long artistic career, most of them are black and white sketches, made with simple lines

and with minimal details but enough to deliver the stories. Very child-like drawing

techniques with a dark touch is an impression one could have about the Untitled piece

(figure 02) from1943 by Bourgeois. The sketch implies a woman crying, and her tears

are being hung on by other human-figure-like objects, a face, a child's body. These

images are delicate and, to use Butler’s words, precarious.

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The work demonstrates Pollock's notions of trauma in many ways. First, the

"presentness", There is absence, in this case,it is the absence of the body, often the

sign of trauma. Second, there is clearly "irrepresentability" in the sketch that makes it

hard to identify trauma. It looks sad but where does this sadness originate? It is in the

absence and it is irrepresentable.

Figure 5. Bourgeois, L (1999). Maman. [bronze, stainless steel, marble]. Women's Art

Blog

Maman is perhaps one of the most recognizable works by Louise Bourgeois and

shows both her aesthetic principles as well as some of the trauma that may underlie the

work she has done throughout her career. Even a glance at the statue shows a touch of

eeriness. A giant spider with her legs which are considered abnormal compared to

reality. At closer inspection the spider seems to be protecting glistening marbles or

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eggs. This is a mother spider who is both terrifying and protective (Guggenheim,

unknown). Maman was a monumental contribution to Bourgeois's own mother, a

caregiver and a protector, who was taken by sickness before she could reach

adulthood, leaving behind the void in young Louise's life. Understanding "Maman"

through Pollock's analysis of trauma, there are undeniable marks of "belatedness" and

"transmissibility". The sculpture, in visual form, represents love, loss and sufferings of

Bourgeois after the death of her mother that she had carried through years.

Figure 6. Bourgeois, L (1974). Destruction of The Father. [plaster, latex, wood, fabric,

red light]. London: Tate Museum

An earlier piece by Bourgeois, “Destruction of the Father'',1974 (figure 3),

explicitly and symbolically represents the trauma of the artist’s upbringing. This piece of

work was once described as “nasty” by critiques. The eerie red colors and the
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composition give out the claustrophobic effect that overall seems like the artwork took

place in a cave- like area/or a theater (Tate, unkown). With the use of mixed mediums

including plaster, latex, wood, fabric and light, the self-enclosed installation was

regarded as Bourgeois celebration of "a childhood fantasy of slaying and consuming her

dictatorial father at the supper table” (Tate, unknown). Similar to "Maman'', however in a

more negative perspective, "Destruction of the father" is the state of "transsimility", a

visual presentation as result of after years feeling abandoned and betrayed by her

father.

Discussion of artist & public perceptions

Understandably, Louise Bourgeois is a female artist who is engaged with the raw

aesthetic and formal possibilities of art. But these choices of medium, style, and

representation are deeply linked to internal trauma. Her art is a voice that has been

shaped and silenced by gender-based violence related to sexuality, fidelity and

abandonment. Even though having inspired her audience, especially a female

audience, with a strong statement about the feminine perspective in the matters of

mistreatment and abandonment in her works, Bourgeois was never officially aligned

with a specific movement in art history. Though the world often speaks of her as an

important figure in the Feminist Movement, the artist, on the other hand was once

referred to a "reluctant hero of feminist art" on The Guardian (Ferrier, 2016). This

affirmation was likely based on a truth which was not acknowledged enough that
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creating was simply Louise's coping mechanism, a therapeutic process to distract

herself from the traumatic childhood events and their long-lasting influences.

Tracey Emin

British born artist, Tracey Emin, is one of those art figures/celebrities whose

name could arouse a lot of opinions and controversy when being spoken of. The artist

hardly received any recognition before the early 1990s and was often misunderstood by

the art world (Tate, unknown). Even after getting famous worldwide, critiques and

collectors remained on two sides of the bridge when it came to the criticism of her work.

The 90s was Emin’s most sensational period. She had a hard-partying lifestyle, a

drunken appearance on the television show about her nomination for the Turner Prize

and teared down the stage with her expletive language. This adds to her "shocking"

works that are considered to contain "stains and impurities.” (The Art Story, unknown).

She was dubbed as "the bad girl of British art" by the art press, and even the lowest

tabloids took an interest in their coverage of the artist. (The Art Story, unknown)

It was Emin’s honesty that created her art, as honest as her life was, and it was a

series of unfortunate events that shaped her as a woman she has become. The artist

had a good start in childhood, until her father left with all the money, which forced the

remaining three members of the family to live in poverty. (The Art Story, unknown). At

13, Emin was raped, an event which certainly affected the rest of her life. Then, as she

reached 24 and was pursuing an MA in painting at Royal College of Art, Emin went
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through two abortions which led to the self-sabotage of her work (The Art Story,

unknown). Being physically and emotionally wounded and having to suffer many

traumas at such a young age, Emin was exposed to a dark side of life way before she

could mature, which might be the reason why she went through some sort of identity

crisis and explored this in her art. This is not necessarily a negative thing, since in a

way, it influenced Emin to explore womanhood and sexuality through a unique artistic

language - self-confessional. (The Art Story, unknown)

Figure 7. Emin, T. (1998). My Bed. [Box frame, mattress, linens, pillows and various

objects]. Lucia Ward Blog.

“My Bed”, 1998 (figure 6) is a later work by Emin that is clearly related to identity.

Even if we didn’t know that this work reflects Emin’s own struggles, it is apparent that

the work is related to trauma, psychological despair and sexuality. The very fact that the

work is a bed indicates the personal and perhaps sexual nature of the piece. Of course,

the rumpled sheets and the stockings tangled in the sheets further indicate both unease
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and sexuality: unrest in the bed, the quick discarding of clothes. Upon closer inspection,

the items in the room also reflect gender identity and trauma. Ranging from the “cute”

stuffed animal that could belong to a child to the empty birth control boxes, the items

indicate both innocence and experience. This could be a loss of innocence because of

various experiences. Discarded tampons along with the birth control remind us of the

realities of gender while empty alcohol bottles add to the sense of abuse. The travel

bags on one side of the bed are perhaps suggesting the desire to escape or meant to

indicate the unsettled life of the bed owner.

Looking at "this mess" through Pollock's trauma framework, "perpetual

presentness" stands out as the strongest character compared to the other fours. There

is always space for trauma to lurk around behind Emin's works, being disguised under

different forms and means, but always noticeable. In Emin's circumstances, it could be

herself/her past trauma who borrows art as a voice for visual expression of her pain

(transmisibility).

Figure 8. Emin, T. (1997). Terribly Wrong. [Monoprint on paper]. London: Tate Museum
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Aesthetically speaking, Emin’s “Terribly Wrong”, 1997 (figure 7) fits into a

standard modern and postmodern history of art. The figure of the woman is

expressionistic and is similar to depictions of the woman’s body by the artist Egon

Schiele. The use of language is similar to more postmodern work ranging from Renee

Magritte (“Ceci n’est pas une pipe” written on “The Treachery of Images” (1929) to

contemporary feminist work by Barbara Kruger. These elements, though, are re-figured

by Emin and point to gendered trauma. The words themselves are written in a way that

appears both personal (someone’s own handwriting) and troubled (the letter ‘N’ written

in the wrong direction). And though we have a Schiele-like nude woman, this nude

woman, presumably, is not only the subject of the painting but quite possibly the

artist/creator. This woman also appears to be the victim of sexual trauma. The head of

the figure is barely visible and hidden due to her lying position, suggesting

unconsciousness or even being strangled. The legs are splayed and there is discharge

coming from her private part. The effect is, in fact, “wrong” or disturbing.

Discussion of artist & public perceptions

Despite being labelled as "enfant terrible", "challenging" and "attention seeking"

for creating artworks that carry a strong theme of sexuality, relationships and trauma,

and often including disturbing details, Tracey Emin never pretended to fit in or please art

critiques to calm the waves of criticism (Artsy, unknown). She once explained, in an

interview featured by Tate Gallery, "I realized I was my work, I was the essence of my
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work - I always say that after I'm dead my work isn't going to be half as good" ((Emin,

the South Bank Show, 2001) Tate, unknown).

"Is she a great artist?" a question raised by Melanie McGrath in a Tate article,

can not really be answered. While critics continue to criticize and dissect Emin's work,

putting a “narcissistic” tag on her personality as ever, Emin just does her thing, which is

experimenting. Her identity has been formed by physical and spiritual anguish and the

practice of its expression, and these traumas, as well as her art, are clearly related to

gender, especially the precarious nature of the feminine. By exposing her vulnerability,

her mundane minutiae in fear, neediness, powerlessness, illness, Emin found a way to

communicate with her audience, especially the female audience, reflecting the basic

needs of human socializing in the world we live in. (McGrath, 1997, np.). Perhaps

because of that, like Bourgeois, Emin tried to avoid tightening her ideology with a

particular movement and became another reluctant hero of feminist art, as she once

stated :"I'm not happy being a feminist. It should all be over by now." (The Art Story,

unknown).
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Conclusion

Bourgeois and Emin, two female artists who were born in different times with

different approaches in their art practice, by fair means or foul, speak a similar artistic

language which has influenced generations of female individuals to explore femininity

through their self-confessional lenses. Both artists deliver a new definition to what a

"liberated woman" can be by focusing on the taboo aspects in the lives of women in

contemporary times: relationships, sexuality, infidelity, violence, abortion, mental illness,

and family damage. They also deal with the stigma that can come from society but often

come from within. In dissimilar ways, both Bourgeois’ and Emin’s artworks can shift

from lonely, furious, raw, frankly disturbing, heavily provocative to genuine, calm, or

even loving. The emotions that are communicated in their art are clearly related to the

effects of trauma. The simple line drawings of Bourgeois can show sadness and loss.

The splattered paintings of Emin, or the disturbed bed, can show the anger, depression

or hurt from sexual violence.

Figure 9. Gentileschi, A (c.1620). Judith Beheading Holofernes. [Oil on canvas].

Florence: Uffizi Gallery.

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Importantly, though, the lens of “trauma” is not the only lens for viewing these

works. The trauma itself that these artists suffered is related to gender, to their

“precarity” as Butler puts it, and the expression of this trauma is a clear demonstration

of Cixous’ expression of the feminine. Together, the lens of “gendered trauma” can be a

useful tool to consider the work of contemporary female artists, to reconsider classic

works, such as Genilleschi’s “Judith Beheading Holofernes”, or to even critique the

violence done to women through the “male gaze.”

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