Contextualising my Creative Practice (Act II)

If Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore could be themselves, why not me?

It was here in Jersey I had a revelation. In fact I still have the postcard I bought in a small wooden frame everywhere I do creative work. It’s here with me now. It was to remind me that a person such as Claude Cahun, who during the late 1900s challenged the concept of the female through art, performance and photography.

During a visit to the Jersey Heritage Museum on that trip in 2011, I encountered the exhibition that I became consumed by. The photographic image I found the most emotive was the one below because she was so young trying to make sense of her mother’s mental illness and her own identity. The year it was taken was also something that struck me as it was not a usual depiction of a female but that of unkempt hair and a challenging stare at the viewer who has become the voyeur.

Later on I created an homage to Claude Cahun for the centenary of women’s suffrage. I tried to depict each decade in the tonal quality of the photographs that were indicative of the time.

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I asked my daughter to be a part of this work just as a model and not herself as she represented to me a young woman who inherited the movement as well as me exploring the relationship between Claude Cahun as a young person, a daughter and another daughter in the present day.

Each would have experienced their lives in the context of their societal environment so differently, but with, perhaps, similar pressures with regard to conformity and identity.

Therefore, I have to ask myself whether Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore COULD be themselves. They sought to engage with society through Art, Performance and Photography. Claude Cahun driven to produce creative work constantly to explore herself within society through surrealism and Avante Garde theatre work (Martinez, 2020).

Yet, it is significant that the work was only really seen after Suzanne Malherbe (Marcel Moore) died aged 80 and a legacy of work discovered. I have to conclude that they could not be themselves because of this fact, as well as changing their names to more gender neutral names rather than accepting their original ones. Also, it feels as though Claude Cahun’s work was that of a journey of self discovery so conclusions were not reached, only more questions.

And this is where I am. I’m asking myself questions, challenging myself, reaching out to others to explore their collective behaviours and attachment to things of significance, all using creative processes to do so. It’s constant and it’s consuming… and I love it.

References

Jersey Heritage (2014) Claude Cahun, JerseyHeritage.org. Available at: https://www.jerseyheritage.org//collection-items/claude-cahun (Accessed: 14 April 2021).

Malherbe, S. and Downie, L. (2006) Don’t kiss me: the art of Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore. London: Tate [u.a.].

Martinez, J. (2020) Claude Cahun: The Androgynous Surrealist Artist, The Collector. Available at: https://www.thecollector.com/claude-cahun/ (Accessed: 21 Jun 2021).

Silk, E. (2020) Claude Cahun: Challenging Gender Boundaries through the Power of Self-exploration, ST.ART MAGAZINE. Available at: https://www.st-artmagazine.com/photography/2020/5/19/claude-cahun-challenging-gender-boundaries-through-the-power-of-self-exploration (Accessed: 14 April 2021).

Walsh, M. (2011) ‘Claude Cahun: Travelling in the Prow of Herself’, September. Available at: https://bordercrossingsmag.com/article/claude-cahun-travelling-in-the-prow-of-herself (Accessed: 9 April 2021).