Mikaela Kennedy

Mikaela Kennedy

My two finished artworks for Studio Arts this year are inspired from 18th and 16th century beauty standards that women upheld. My first piece was a 18th century corset/stays created from various materials created for a woman to fit the ideal body type that was idolized in the specific time period. The garment is made of cotton velvet, polyester lining, interfacing, 12 metres of boning and 100 year old lace. My second piece is a handmade mask replicating the 16th century mask called “The Vizard” worn by upper class women to hide their pearly complexion. It was strapless and held to the face by biting down keeping women from talking. The vizard is made out of strips of plaster bandages dipped in water and placed on the face covered in vaseline. The mask is then painted in a balck acrylic paint to complete the look. Using my Potential Directions and research I was able to choose materials and techniques but also alter them when needed to achieve the closest image of how the 16th-18th century were depicted. My artworks communicate how women in this elected time period had to alter their body image to fit in with society’s standards, despite the harsh reality of the damage that happened to internal organs when wearing corsets and the horrific concept of making women mute by covering their faces with a mask.