We are happy to announce our first presenter for November, Dr. Katherine Iselin, with her presentation “Textiles: Women’s Work Art”. Dr. Iselin received her PhD in Art History and Archaeology from the University of Missouri, and she currently teaches in the Department of Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Missouri. Her research explores themes of gender and sexuality in visual and material culture, particularly through the reception of ancient art in later periods. You can follow Dr. Iselin on Twitter (@Ktpiselin) and Instagram (@ktp.iselin).
Her presentation focuses on how women contributed to the visual arts in ancient Greece. She has provided us with the following abstract:
“How did women contribute to the visual arts in ancient Greece? Discussions on the art of ancient Greece typically focus on sculpture and vase-painting – unsurprising as these two forms of art not only most commonly survive, but sculpture and painting remain the most highly-regarded of all artistic mediums in the Western art world. As they have been for much of Western art history, these media were largely produced by men. Thus, women are frequently absent from discussions of ancient Greek art. Yet ancient Greek women were involved in visual art in other ways – most notably through textile arts.
Textiles rarely survive from antiquity. Even so, with the handful of extant fragments, depictions of weaving on vase-painting, and the surviving objects associated with weaving activities, we can gain a better understanding of this particular form of art so closely associated with women. This video gives an overview of the association between women and weaving, examining the significance of textiles in ancient Greece and showing the weaving process.”
All About The Ancient World 