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Leslie Sheryll – Encased (Biological Determination and the Language of Flowers)

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I explored female identity by combining historical facts, images, personal experience and a bit of fantasy to create a new narrative. I begin by appropriating and scanning 19th century tintypes which I manipulate creating a digital collage. I name each woman so that she has a personal identity.

The impact of the industrial revolution along with Darwin’s study in biological determination caused a gender gap between men and women during the 19th century. It was understood that men and women had completely different natures. Darwin assigned traits to both men and women and these traits determined how each should function in society.

In this series I combine tintype cases and female torsos along with vintage botanical drawings. The cases represent the isolation and limited opportunities that were imposed upon women during that era. The absence of faces are due to the fact that women had no identity, they had few rights and were considered property of their husbands. The botanicals refer to the “Language of Flowers” a popular 19th century pastime used as a non verbal way to communicate coded messages in an era when direct emotional verbal communication was considered taboo in proper Victorian society. Each flower represents one of the assigned female traits.

Below is a list of both male and female traits.

Men                                        Women

Public                                        Private
Powerful                                   Weak
Active                                        Passive
Brave                                        Timid
Worldly                                     Domestic
Logical                                      Illogical  
Rational                                   Emotional
Susceptible to madness         Hysteria
Individual                                Social/Familial
Independent                            Dependent
Abe to resist temptation       Unable to resist temptation
Tainted                                     Pure
Ambitious                                Content
Sexual/Sensual                      Not sexual/sensual

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