Global award for Scots graduate's sexism art
- Published
Dana Leslie photographed some the locations submitted to her website on sexism and gender violence
A Dundee graduate has won an international award for artwork inspired by women's experience of sexism, harassment and gender-based violence.
Dana Leslie set up a website asking women to anonymously record the locations of the incidents in a "living archive".
She used the data to create artwork called Hope is a Form of Planning.
It won the visual arts category in the Global Undergraduate Awards 2022.
Her winning submission featured artwork she prepared for the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design (DJCAD) Degree Show 2022 as part of her Fine Art degree.
The 24-year-old from Dundee said she wanted to inspire compassion through her art and to reduce "the distance we put between ourselves and the stories we read".
"I wanted to combine research, artwork, and activism for the degree show," she said.
"People could go to the website, external and write as much or as little as they wanted about what happened without being concerned about repercussions.
"Some of the places I got were surprising. We have this idea that harassment happens down alleyways late at night when actually it's happening in workplaces, universities and places local to us."
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She went on to photograph some of the locations submitted to her website.
The final images are in black and white and sometimes difficult to make out.
Ms Leslie developed her own printing process to convey the doubt victims feel when recalling sexist incidents.
"The printing process took a whole year to figure out," she said. "I wanted to do it all by hand and I wanted the final images to show how fragile these memories are.
"The final images were printed on silk which is transparent so people can see it from both sides."
The second piece in the series featured a video projection of the hands of four women directly on to a table.
Ms Leslie wanted viewers to become active participants
During the video, the women recount their own stories of sexism and harassment.
The scene is filmed from above, so only the women's hands are seen and the audio is removed.
Ms Leslie said: "I wanted people to go into the visual database first and see the overwhelming amount of the locations altogether.
"Then I wanted them to go into an intimate, tight space and sit down at the table, possibly with strangers, and get a feel of what it's like to be someone in the database.
"The moving arms look like extensions of the people sat at table.
"Even though it's silent, you can see the women go from angry to upset through their hand movements as they react to the position they've been put in."
The third piece is a hand-built claw machine where visitors can win eerie white masks.
An eerie claw machine featured in the exhibition
The work considers themes of power structures and identity.
Ms Leslie added: "I like to create artwork that is interactive and subversive. I want to turn concepts on their head.
"So I had these two very serious pieces and then a third which was similar to a claw machine that kids would use.
"But I wanted to flip the naivety of claw games into something more sinister and consider who has the power and control over our identities."
Professor Anita Taylor, Dean of Duncan of Jordanstone, said: "Dana was an exceptional student, whose final degree show addressed critical issues in an eloquent and powerful way.
"We look forward to seeing how Dana's professional journey develops as she realises her ambitions to create art that has the capacity to provoke compassion, document the overlooked, and to have tremendous social impact."
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