Feminine Attempts

Using the longstanding tradition of portrait painting to question longstanding gender role traditions, Klaire Lockheart presents artworks that are smart, droll, forceful, and even intimidating.”

​-Todd Behrens, Sioux City Art Center

Feminine Attempts Artist Statement

The concept of femininity is vastly complex and absurd, consisting of modern expectations paired with old social customs. From an early age, girls are inundated with rules and mores of what it means to be feminine, and they are expected to learn how to become women. These rigid gender roles are perplexing, especially since women are often obligated to fulfill multifaceted roles dictated by religious institutions, families, and communities. My paintings are a way for me to explore the unnatural expectations of femininity. The women depicted in my paintings are portrayed life-sized in order to express to the viewer that these subjects represent actual people. The scale of the paintings allows the women to be seen as monumental and intimidating, especially since they look down towards the viewer. To highlight the contrasting roles women are supposed to fulfill, such as chastity and sexiness, the women wear a combination of modest clothing and provocative footwear. The women also wear aprons to highlight the ludicrousness of requiring women to be tidy at all times, even though they are often responsible for dirty work. These combinations are silly, and it’s okay to laugh at the absurdity. The subjects and their environments are painted representationally with oil on canvas to allow the models’ expressions to be clearly seen, which permits them to share their displeasure about trying to fit in the role of femininity set by our culture.

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