Eavan Schmitt
April 5 – April 16
The Selkie is a traditionally female creature of Irish folklore that lives as a seal in the sea but is able to remove her sealskin and live as a human on land. In many tales, selkies fall in love with human fishermen who conceal their skins from them to prevent them from assuming their true identities and returning to the sea. This project will use the selkie myth as a starting point for unpacking contemporary issues of feminine identity, anxiety and impostor syndrome--specifically, the fear that many women (myself included) suffer that once they reveal their truest selves to romantic partners or people with whom they share other important connections, they will be immediately and harshly rejected, and that they cannot measure up to the standards of emotional coolness that contemporary society promotes as ideal. My exhibition will use textiles and fishing materials such as net and rope to visually explore the confines imposed by such expectations and the struggle required to escape them.