Concept drawings and tedium

Since my last blog post I have created full scale concept drawings. I've also done some extensive research into identity politics. I've come to find a lot of my work speaks to gender inequalities. The dominant culture in the US is very much a patriarchal society, and the military is an extreme subculture of this dominant culture. Being a part of that as a female was a constant uphill battle. When I was retired I thought things would be more equal as a civilian. Wrong. We speak about equality, but will there ever be gender equality? I feel like people are so worried about minority discrimination (as we should be) African American, Native American, Gay, etc. that the gender issue gets swept under the rug, and will continue to be swept under the rug. The constitution American's pride themselves on states All MEN are created equal. Isn't it time for a rewrite? Shouldn't it read all mankind are created equal? What about the other gender? Anyway, here are the drawings.

The piece as a composite is 5 ft by 6 ft.

ceramic beads

This one will be cross stitched with the actual ribbons attached. It will be the center piece for the entire composition

Ceramic plate

Crochet 5 point star granny squares

Embroidered 5 point stars

Quilted 5 point stars

Woven

I chose the 5 point star for a specific reason. Not only are they representational of the US flag, they also represent multiple awards. When a service member receives more than one of the same award they get a small bronze star to attach to the ribbon. It is also used to signify admiral and attached to high enlisted ranks like senior chief and master chief. It's a symbol of honor and accomplishment in the military, and I want to discuss the women that serve and are forgotten as a form of accomplishment and honor.

Besides the concept drawings I have completed the crochet granny squares, the ceramic plate as greenware, 1700 ceramic greenware beads, and a plaster mold for my rebar posts. I have a test piece poured in the rebar and I am ramping up to fire my kiln by hopefully the end of the week. I am struggling with figuring out my shrinkage rate so this fire will probably be a test fire. I'm really excited to be getting close to completing my greenware beads (what a painful tedious process!). Working in ceramic is time consuming, but I think in the long run it will have a better affect then the polymer clay.