In Her Own Image: Women Working in the Arts (Women's Lives-Women's Work Series) [Paperback]

Elaine Hedges (Author), Ingrid Wendt (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1993 | ISBN-10: 0912670622 | ISBN-13: 978-0912670621

   The work of western women artists, past and present, is collected here in a stunning array of forms: fiction, poetry, autobiography, essay, journal and letter writing, sculpture, painting, graphics, photography, ceramics, needlework, music, and dance. The unique experience of women artists from diverse national, ethnic, racial, and economic backgrounds is explored from their own viewpoints, as are the important relationships between women's social condition and women's art.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Women's art often doesn't fit into the traditional categories set by men's art forms, but instead reflects the circumstances of their lives. Through a collection of women's words and images, In Her Own Image explores this relationship between art and life, and traces the evolution of women's art and women artists. Women's early artistic expression usually focused around household tasks because these were useful pursuits and because women were most often denied access to the "high arts" of fine painting and sculpting. As these women gained confidence in their abilities, they began to redefine themselves as artists and as women, outside of their social and sexual roles. Finally, free to be artists, women came back full circle to produce art that is useful, but this time they moved beyond the household to the world, creating art for social change. So listen as women tell us in their own voices, the herstory of their art. -- From The WomanSource Catalog & Review: Tools for Connecting the Community for Women; review by FGP

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Who decided what is useful in its beauty
means less than what has no function besides beauty
(except its weight in money)?
Art without frames: it held parched corn,
it covered the table where soup misted savor,
it covered the bed where the body knit
to self and other and the
dark wool of dreams....
(From: "Looking at Quilts" by Marge Piercy)

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: The Feminist Press at CUNY (January 1, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0912670622
• ISBN-13: 978-0912670621
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,091,849 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars great and brilliant, May 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: In Her Own Image: Women Working in the Arts (Women's Lives-Women's Work Series) (Paperback)

This book challenges so many of the assumptions of white males who continue to attempt to keep Women from showing their work. So much courageous work is being done by Women that it simply can not be kept quiet!!!! As a white woman, I was especially pleased to see that Women of Color were included in the discussions in this book.