They’re also this very obvious symbol for hyper-femininity, as well as an actual weapon. I’ve been drawing huge stilettos because they look amazing, but I can never get myself to wear them, so again I’m living vicariously through drawing. There are a couple recurrent tropes in your work: the woman, obviously, the cigarettes, the ferociously powerful platform shoes and the stilettos, the spotted dog, the somewhat dominatrix Mickey Mouse, the brick walls, and then, finally, the male figure, often on the margins. I use drawing as a way to be more courageous, loud, and unapologetic than I dare to be in real life. I can’t always gather the courage or the energy to speak up, or I miss the opportunity to do so, or I am too stunned to say something. Haven’t we learned that if we want to appear as strong women, we don’t show any feelings because feelings are weak? I am putting all my frustration about the status quo into drawing-I want to draw girls who are unafraid of spoiling the fun, who demand the expression of feeling, who are proud to ruin an atmosphere that shames women for speaking up, who confidently take up the space they deserve, and who will never be scared into being silent because they have nothing to lose. It is important for me to portray a female that is expressing extreme emotions, especially negative ones like anger, fear, resentment, rage, schadenfreude-aggression isn’t really something that young girls are taught to express freely. She basically embodies everything I have always wanted to be. I am using the female character in my drawings as an outlet for the secret wish to be more intimidating, less cute, more assertive, and less nice. Anything I did was called “cute”, strangers would always touch my face or give me pats on the head, and I constantly felt like no one would ever expect anything big or ambitious of me. I figured it must have been because I looked a lot younger than I was. I want to know more about her.Īs a young girl, I’ve always felt very strongly that no matter what I did, no one would take me seriously. She’s like this rad 70’s powergirl in platforms and stilettos. I mostly want to talk to you about your recurring female character. Distilled, it echoes that 1981 “Stairway to Cleveland” song by Jefferson Starship: “Fuck you, we do what we want.” Don’t question it. Her ladies hold their fists high, they’re vulgar and violent and unapologetically beautiful. The character is mammoth, with undulating arms and an anthropomorphic braid badass, aggressive and splendid. From her studio in Berlin, Maren Karlson makes drawings of powerful women interfacing in a world of recurrent tropes that range from dominatrix Mickey Mouse, hyper-geometric interiors, and half-burnt cigarettes.
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