We’re very pleased to have recently had two new zines donated by artist Sophie Cunningham, Pocket Guide to Bitches and Pin Up. Sophie is a recent graduate from the Glasgow School of Art who is currently based between Glasgow and London.
Sophie’s work explores the growing concerns about her generation and questions the roles women play in today’s westernised society. She is fascinated by what young girls and boys are exposed to and how this shapes them as young adults. Often using found images from magazines, books, etc, she confronts these subjects in a humorous manner to provoke discussion. Below Sophie describes these two projects:
Pocket Guide to Bitches is as a response to the derogatory language used to describe women, which has animal connotations. I wanted to question the use of the term ‘Bitch’ in colloquial language. Does this de-humanise women? The new juxtaposition of found images from pornographic magazines anthropomorphises the women with the ‘bitch’. I take this term and give it a blunt and literal interpretation. At first glance the work seems humorous, despite the sinister undertones.
Pin Up explores the representation of women throughout time and the idealistic notions of beauty. With the same humorous and surreal style as Pocket Guide to Bitches, the contrast in salved images used to create collage also comments on the ideal beauty and how taste can change through time.
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