Hello! My name is Lauren McDougall, and I have been volunteering with Glasgow Women’s Library since August 2023.
I work multiple jobs within the arts sector, as a Gallery Assistant at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and a Digital Communications Officer with DG Unlimited, a Dumfries based arts organisation.
I am also a multi-disciplinary artist. I work within the frameworks of feminist discourse, delving deep into the intricate dynamics that define the relationships women obtain with themselves, nature, and the constructs of society. At the heart of my work lies a surrealistic reinvention of the female body, re-appropriated from the archives of androcentric artworks, advertisements, and pornography. Through recontextualisation, I am interested in interrogating the misrepresentation of women in both historical and contemporary culture, unravelling and reshaping the narratives that permeate social consciousness.
I graduated in 2021 with a First-Class honours degree in Photography from the University of the Arts London. During my degree, I wrote a self-published text called “Carnepolitics: The Meatification of Women and Animals”. This text explored the effectiveness of eco-feminist theory in analysing the connection women and non-human animals obtain within the anthropocentric patriarchy, more specifically, how this connection is evident within the early years of the Surrealist movement, pornography, western traditions, language, and the contemporary art world.
Women’s studies are something I am incredibly passionate about in my work but also in day-to-day life. Volunteering with the Women’s Library has given me insight into a working environment like no other.
I first visited the Women’s Library for the Comfort workshop, a session led by artist Lois Blackburn, where participants were given materials to embroider their own interpretation of a breast, which would then be sewn together in a large quilt. This was the first time I felt the feeling I now feel when doing any work with the library: a lovely, overwhelming sense of comfort, safety, understanding and connection. Almost a year later, I have been graced with this feeling in every workshop I have participated in or any event I have attended.
I mainly work front-of-house duties at the Women’s Library, a role I adore. I love welcoming each visitor with genuine warmth whilst also recognising when first-time visitors leave with the same sense of comfort and security that I experienced during my first visit.
I am also very fortunate to be able to apply my photography degree in my volunteer role by frequently engaging in documenting the wide range of events and exhibitions presented and hosted by the Women’s Library. It’s a role I cherish, allowing me to contribute creatively while capturing the essence of the Women’s Library’s interesting and impactful programming.
These are some of my favourite images I have captured when working with the Women’s Library.
