Alyssa Yeager

Gouache and Conté on paper
9" x 12"
2018

The female form and the female nature have traditionally been depicted as curvy and soft in contrast to the hard, angular male form and authoritative male nature. In Feminine Lines I explore simple, soft curving strokes, offset by aggressive strokes and harder lines, and color palettes that aim to invoke and challenge gender stereotypes, especially through indirectly contentious subject matter — flower-like shapes are drawn aggressively and often morph into body parts and orifices, babies and children are depicted as fetuses, and both dark and bright palettes mix to create an unsettled feeling.

Feminine Lines is a broad study of the female aesthetic and role in Abstract Expressionist art. This series was developed after re-immersing myself in studying the Abstract Expressionists of the 1940s and 50s, and realizing strongly for the first time that the notable painters representative of the movement were primarily male.

Where were the women? I began to search for more information about women in the Abstract Expressionist movement, and learned that they were there, but they were marginalized.

Separately, I viewed an exhibit of Carolee Schneemann's work that particularly struck me as an angry revolt against the primarily masculine Abstract Expressionist movement during it's time. Much of Schneeman's work, to me, spoke to the psychology of being female in an art world driven by men — being told you couldn't do things, feeling directed by the will of male leadership.

In response, I started thinking about the female role in Abstract Expressionism and contemporary art — past, present, and future. Is this style of art masculine? Can it be feminine? And if a work is feminine as opposed to masculine, what makes it so?

Acrylic on canvas
16" x 20"
2018

Too much ego will sink your own battleship.

The female form and the female nature have traditionally been depicted as curvy and soft in contrast to the hard, angular male form and authoritative male nature. In Feminine Lines I explore simple, soft curving strokes, offset by aggressive strokes and harder lines, and color palettes that aim to invoke and challenge gender stereotypes, especially through indirectly contentious subject matter — flower-like shapes are drawn aggressively and often morph into body parts and orifices, babies and children are depicted as fetuses, and both dark and bright palettes mix to create an unsettled feeling.

Feminine Lines is a broad study of the female aesthetic and role in Abstract Expressionist art. This series was developed after re-immersing myself in studying the Abstract Expressionists of the 1940s and 50s, and realizing strongly for the first time that the notable painters representative of the movement were primarily male.

Where were the women? I began to search for more information about women in the Abstract Expressionist movement, and learned that they were there, but they were marginalized.

Separately, I viewed an exhibit of Carolee Schneemann's work that particularly struck me as an angry revolt against the primarily masculine Abstract Expressionist movement during it's time. Much of Schneeman's work, to me, spoke to the psychology of being female in an art world driven by men — being told you couldn't do things, feeling directed by the will of male leadership.

In response, I started thinking about the female role in Abstract Expressionism and contemporary art — past, present, and future. Is this style of art masculine? Can it be feminine? And if a work is feminine as opposed to masculine, what makes it so?

Oil stick, charcoal, and Conté crayon on gessoed paper
11" x 14"
2018

The female form and the female nature have traditionally been depicted as curvy and soft in contrast to the hard, angular male form and authoritative male nature. In Feminine Lines I explore simple, soft curving strokes, offset by aggressive strokes and harder lines, and color palettes that aim to invoke and challenge gender stereotypes, especially through indirectly contentious subject matter — flower-like shapes are drawn aggressively and often morph into body parts and orifices, babies and children are depicted as fetuses, and both dark and bright palettes mix to create an unsettled feeling.

Feminine Lines is a broad study of the female aesthetic and role in Abstract Expressionist art. This series was developed after re-immersing myself in studying the Abstract Expressionists of the 1940s and 50s, and realizing strongly for the first time that the notable painters representative of the movement were primarily male.

Where were the women? I began to search for more information about women in the Abstract Expressionist movement, and learned that they were there, but they were marginalized.

Separately, I viewed an exhibit of Carolee Schneemann's work that particularly struck me as an angry revolt against the primarily masculine Abstract Expressionist movement during it's time. Much of Schneeman's work, to me, spoke to the psychology of being female in an art world driven by men — being told you couldn't do things, feeling directed by the will of male leadership.

In response, I started thinking about the female role in Abstract Expressionism and contemporary art — past, present, and future. Is this style of art masculine? Can it be feminine? And if a work is feminine as opposed to masculine, what makes it so?

Oil stick, charcoal and ink on paper
9" x 12"
2018

The female form and the female nature have traditionally been depicted as curvy and soft in contrast to the hard, angular male form and authoritative male nature. In Feminine Lines I explore simple, soft curving strokes, offset by aggressive strokes and harder lines, and color palettes that aim to invoke and challenge gender stereotypes, especially through indirectly contentious subject matter — flower-like shapes are drawn aggressively and often morph into body parts and orifices, babies and children are depicted as fetuses, and both dark and bright palettes mix to create an unsettled feeling.

Feminine Lines is a broad study of the female aesthetic and role in Abstract Expressionist art. This series was developed after re-immersing myself in studying the Abstract Expressionists of the 1940s and 50s, and realizing strongly for the first time that the notable painters representative of the movement were primarily male.

Where were the women? I began to search for more information about women in the Abstract Expressionist movement, and learned that they were there, but they were marginalized.

Separately, I viewed an exhibit of Carolee Schneemann's work that particularly struck me as an angry revolt against the primarily masculine Abstract Expressionist movement during it's time. Much of Schneeman's work, to me, spoke to the psychology of being female in an art world driven by men — being told you couldn't do things, feeling directed by the will of male leadership.

In response, I started thinking about the female role in Abstract Expressionism and contemporary art — past, present, and future. Is this style of art masculine? Can it be feminine? And if a work is feminine as opposed to masculine, what makes it so?

Gouache and Conté on paper
9" x 12"
2018

The female form and the female nature have traditionally been depicted as curvy and soft in contrast to the hard, angular male form and authoritative male nature. In Feminine Lines I explore simple, soft curving strokes, offset by aggressive strokes and harder lines, and color palettes that aim to invoke and challenge gender stereotypes, especially through indirectly contentious subject matter — flower-like shapes are drawn aggressively and often morph into body parts and orifices, babies and children are depicted as fetuses, and both dark and bright palettes mix to create an unsettled feeling.

Feminine Lines is a broad study of the female aesthetic and role in Abstract Expressionist art. This series was developed after re-immersing myself in studying the Abstract Expressionists of the 1940s and 50s, and realizing strongly for the first time that the notable painters representative of the movement were primarily male.

Where were the women? I began to search for more information about women in the Abstract Expressionist movement, and learned that they were there, but they were marginalized.

Separately, I viewed an exhibit of Carolee Schneemann's work that particularly struck me as an angry revolt against the primarily masculine Abstract Expressionist movement during it's time. Much of Schneeman's work, to me, spoke to the psychology of being female in an art world driven by men — being told you couldn't do things, feeling directed by the will of male leadership.

In response, I started thinking about the female role in Abstract Expressionism and contemporary art — past, present, and future. Is this style of art masculine? Can it be feminine? And if a work is feminine as opposed to masculine, what makes it so?

Acrylic on canvas
16" x 20"
2018

The female form and the female nature have traditionally been depicted as curvy and soft in contrast to the hard, angular male form and authoritative male nature. In Feminine Lines I explore simple, soft curving strokes, offset by aggressive strokes and harder lines, and color palettes that aim to invoke and challenge gender stereotypes, especially through indirectly contentious subject matter — flower-like shapes are drawn aggressively and often morph into body parts and orifices, babies and children are depicted as fetuses, and both dark and bright palettes mix to create an unsettled feeling.

Feminine Lines is a broad study of the female aesthetic and role in Abstract Expressionist art. This series was developed after re-immersing myself in studying the Abstract Expressionists of the 1940s and 50s, and realizing strongly for the first time that the notable painters representative of the movement were primarily male.

Where were the women? I began to search for more information about women in the Abstract Expressionist movement, and learned that they were there, but they were marginalized.

Separately, I viewed an exhibit of Carolee Schneemann's work that particularly struck me as an angry revolt against the primarily masculine Abstract Expressionist movement during it's time. Much of Schneeman's work, to me, spoke to the psychology of being female in an art world driven by men — being told you couldn't do things, feeling directed by the will of male leadership.

In response, I started thinking about the female role in Abstract Expressionism and contemporary art — past, present, and future. Is this style of art masculine? Can it be feminine? And if a work is feminine as opposed to masculine, what makes it so?

Oil stick, charcoal and ink on paper
9" x 12"
2018

The only light and fun work in the series, Les Demoiselles is meant to be sarcastically so. "The Ladies" are reduced to dancing, curvy shapes; carefree in a sea of pink.

The female form and the female nature have traditionally been depicted as curvy and soft in contrast to the hard, angular male form and authoritative male nature. In Feminine Lines I explore simple, soft curving strokes, offset by aggressive strokes and harder lines, and color palettes that aim to invoke and challenge gender stereotypes, especially through indirectly contentious subject matter — flower-like shapes are drawn aggressively and often morph into body parts and orifices, babies and children are depicted as fetuses, and both dark and bright palettes mix to create an unsettled feeling.

Feminine Lines is a broad study of the female aesthetic and role in Abstract Expressionist art. This series was developed after re-immersing myself in studying the Abstract Expressionists of the 1940s and 50s, and realizing strongly for the first time that the notable painters representative of the movement were primarily male.

Where were the women? I began to search for more information about women in the Abstract Expressionist movement, and learned that they were there, but they were marginalized.

Separately, I viewed an exhibit of Carolee Schneemann's work that particularly struck me as an angry revolt against the primarily masculine Abstract Expressionist movement during it's time. Much of Schneeman's work, to me, spoke to the psychology of being female in an art world driven by men — being told you couldn't do things, feeling directed by the will of male leadership.

In response, I started thinking about the female role in Abstract Expressionism and contemporary art — past, present, and future. Is this style of art masculine? Can it be feminine? And if a work is feminine as opposed to masculine, what makes it so?

Oil stick, charcoal, and ink on canvas
16" x 20"
2018

The female form and the female nature have traditionally been depicted as curvy and soft in contrast to the hard, angular male form and authoritative male nature. In Feminine Lines I explore simple, soft curving strokes, offset by aggressive strokes and harder lines, and color palettes that aim to invoke and challenge gender stereotypes, especially through indirectly contentious subject matter — flower-like shapes are drawn aggressively and often morph into body parts and orifices, babies and children are depicted as fetuses, and both dark and bright palettes mix to create an unsettled feeling.

Feminine Lines is a broad study of the female aesthetic and role in Abstract Expressionist art. This series was developed after re-immersing myself in studying the Abstract Expressionists of the 1940s and 50s, and realizing strongly for the first time that the notable painters representative of the movement were primarily male.

Where were the women? I began to search for more information about women in the Abstract Expressionist movement, and learned that they were there, but they were marginalized.

Separately, I viewed an exhibit of Carolee Schneemann's work that particularly struck me as an angry revolt against the primarily masculine Abstract Expressionist movement during it's time. Much of Schneeman's work, to me, spoke to the psychology of being female in an art world driven by men — being told you couldn't do things, feeling directed by the will of male leadership.

In response, I started thinking about the female role in Abstract Expressionism and contemporary art — past, present, and future. Is this style of art masculine? Can it be feminine? And if a work is feminine as opposed to masculine, what makes it so?