Domestic Bliss

Hannah Levengood

I am a double major in Art Education and Art History with minors in drawing and painting. My poem, “scabbed garden,” puts into words my previous struggles with self harm. I share this work as an act of vulnerability and as an homage to those who helped me remain here today. My work Domestic Bliss 1 exists within a body of work exploring the roles played by women within midwestern, domestic households. The work intends to confront the expectations placed around the female identity while championing matriarchal figures in the home and confronting the societally accepted entrapment and abuse of said figures. Utilization of imagery associated with femininity as reference to a sacred architectural structure alludes to the matriarchal identity as playing an essential role in the midwestern household. Spill My Guts exists as a confrontation of the female form as used traditionally in the art history canon to bring awareness to the abuse inflicted upon women based on their gender. The figure, seen in the relaxed, reclining nude position, is presented similarly to that of roadkill, which society chooses to drive past and ignore. The duality of her image forces the audience to acknowledge violence against women head on, despite their disposition to avoid the topic.