Laura Earle | Measure Up
Silk Chiffon and Vintage Measuring
Photo by: Rich Earle
Too much? Not enough? Too much? Not enough? When I read about the cycle of uncertainty many women experience when stepping into their own strength and capability, I really resonated with that experience. Brandsplaining connects this phenomenon with toxic messaging in the media and marketing realms. 41% of mass marketing messages to and about women explicitly point out a flaw she needs help overcoming. 42% implicitly find fault. Couple this with women being conditioned from birth to be pleasing and accommodating to others, especially men, as a means of survival, this internal cycle of doubt in response to self-reliance makes perfect sense.
This piece is made from silk chiffon and vintage measuring tapes. The sheer duster and veil obscure not only the ability to see me clearly, they also interfere with me being able to see the world clearly. This relates to the system of beliefs propagated by centuries of messaging which center male power and the male gaze.
Measure Up
Laura Earle | Men Control the Narrative
Repurposed garments, Hand dyed silk, Environmentally-sustainable printed cotton, and Repurposed packaging
Model: Andrea Hethuru House
Photo by: Liz Fall
The book Brandsplaining is built on the foundation that men have controlled the narrative to and about women for thousands of years, using it to establish and maintain dominance. While strides to level the playing field appear in contemporary mass media and corporate entities, the authors demonstrate with study after study that sexism is still alive and well, but is now more surreptitious. If you look under the surface, behind the scenes, it’s pervasive, and leaves a wake of devastation for women and the environment around the world.
This piece is made from repurposed garments, hand-dyed silk, an environmentally-sustainable printed cotton, and repurposed packaging. In the performance, the woman’s form is dominated by the oversized men’s suit jacket. The back of the jacket spouts a stream of detritus, which flows down her back and on to the train of her formal dress which features the iconic 1972 NASA image the Big Blue Marble – planet earth. At the end of the runway, the performer struggles against the jacket, takes it off and drops it on the floor. She leaves it behind, walking away freely and unobscured.
Men Control the Narrative
Laura Earle | Labor of Love
Repurposed garments, wine corks, coffee beans, and spent dryer sheets.
Model: Lisa Alberts
Photo by: Sara Kilany
Labor of Love
Brandsplaining lays out the stages of patriarchal mythology women are expected to aspire to: the good girl who is seen and not heard, the desirable young woman who remains a virgin, the perfect mother who gives selflessly until she ages out into obscurity, discarded and invisible in old age.
This piece focuses on the perfect mother. Keeping up all appearances, she presents as a regal being. Her tiara erupts in gilded housewares of spatulas and spoons, the symbols of her nurturing role. The vaginal motif of her dress, the skirt rendered in spent dryer sheets, speaks to how she endlessly gives birth to new possibilities and opportunities for those in her care. The oversized gilded spoon draws continuously from her innermost essence and energy as she moves, suspended from a color made of wine corks and coffee beans. Her hands are caged by cuffs which allows her only to give, never to take anything from herself. She wears no shoes, humble and vulnerable, connected to the earth — a nod to the patriarchy’s aim in keeping women barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen.
Curator Laura Earle talks about the book Brandsplaining and the inspiration behind her piece “Men Control the Narrative.”
Laura Earle
Metro Detroit artist and independent curator Laura Earle is interested in how art starts a conversation, transcends barriers, and becomes a catalyst for building community, shifting meaning, and shaping culture. With a background in furniture design and graphics, she turned her focus to making visual art in 2018, encouraging collaborative vitality and camaraderie in her curatorial projects. With an inclusive, community-building approach centered on social justice issues — gender equality (Womxnhouse Detroit 2021, Dear Womanhouse 2018), racial equality (Unraveling Racism: Seeing White 2019-22), and climate change (Environmentally Speaking 2022, Climate Conversations 2021, Drawdown 2020), Earle facilitated gatherings of artists to hold conversations shaped by well-researched source material.
Making artwork while in dialog with the exhibiting artists, there is no outsider jurying or exclusion. The resulting exhibits are intimate portrayals of an artistic community exploring a topic together. The shows travel as a kind of material diary, inviting viewers in different locales into the larger narrative, subverting de facto segregation, and offering new perspectives and tipping points.