President's Showcase
Emma Bryson She/Her
Supervising Professor: Prof. Carrie Ann Baade
Emma (Emmie) Bryson is a senior Bachelor of Fine Arts student focusing on painting and drawing, and an Art History minor. Intrigued by the abject feminine, gendered craft, and dichotomy of extraordinary amongst mundanity, her multimedia artwork explores how the metamorphosis and adoption of characterization act as a vehicle for empowerment and self-discovery. Emmie is an Undergraduate Honors Thesis candidate examining how contemporary theatre and performance quantify the expression and perception of feminine rage. She is also a recipient of the Ann Kirn Scholarship and vice president of FSU’s Art Students League. After her expected graduation in the Spring of 2025, she hopes to earn an MFA and apply for art exhibitions around the country.
Abstract
Feminine rage is a concept that exceeds mere emotion and is defined by an air of divinity. It is neither apologetic nor demure, it is a response and sense of being achieved by fury in the vacuum of agency and joy. A subversion to the cultural canon that aggression is masculine. The volatile and unpredictable nature of live theatre, entwined with the dynamics of storytelling through the creation of personas makes performance an ideal medium for expressing anger. From contemporary musicals about Tudor pop divas to the iconic plays of Shakespeare, the presentation of “difficult women” and their sense of identity echoed through garments offer the participant and viewer an opportunity of empowerment to express rage unfettered by gendered expectations. Informed by research in the National Theatre Archives, discussions with actresses, and attending live productions on the West End, characters who embodied feminine rage became the basis for constructing pieces of wearable art donned in site-specific performances of self-liberation. Holographic vinyl fabric, hundreds of beads and metal rivets, and an absurd amount of thread, among other things, facilitated experimentation with mediums like sewing, embroidery, jewelry-making, fabric dyeing, and leathercraft. Beginning with work referencing iconic costumes that followed a progression into original designs, the addition of detailed accessories and motifs pays homage to each narrative and adds a sense of personalization. This series of wearables explores how the female sense of self and the need to express aggression can find power in the inspiration and embodiment of theatrical figures.
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