The Female Gaze

‘In feminist theory, the male gaze is the act of depicting women and the world, in the visual arts and in literature, from a masculine, heterosexual perspective that presents and represents women as sexual objects for the pleasure of the male viewer’. Rose’s collection, The Female Gaze, intends to subjugate the male viewpoint that denounces female autonomy, identity and independence. Through Pop Art – a movement that questions, celebrates and revels in commercialism, consumerism and superficiality – Rose echoes the theme of Warhol’s use of reproduction as a way to satisfy the medium. The women in The Female Gaze are also akin to Warhol’s replicas through their uniform, monochrome colouring. However, the troupe of reproduction is subverted when paired with realism. Rose’s added exploration of dimension and depth uproots Warhol’s shallow, swift, screen-prints. And with the omission of a mechanised printer, these women (painted free hand) are liberated from the confines of the silk screen. The uninhibited, physical expression of the girls; their composition structured to intimidate and empower; their gaze; are all imposed to upturn Pop Art and to critique the very gaze observed onto them.