Interior Decoration as Fine Art: Rachel Feinstein and <i>The Sorbet Room</i>, 2001.

Rachel Feinstein, wife of figure painter John Currin and mother of three also works as a fine artist. Primarily a sculptor and installation artist, Feinstein combines fairytales with reality. Often her contributions to the art world are overlooked due to her active social life and vast network of friends. Feinstein’s connection to Currin and her collaboration with fashion designers taints her reputation as a serious artist. Such an approach diminishes her identity as a female artist and silences her creative voice. She challenges the notion of contemporary feminine sculpture by creating personal yet relatable three dimensional objects rooted deep within the canon of art history. Through the lens of feminist theory coupled with formal analysis, this paper will study the site specific installation entitled <i>The Sorbet Room</i>, 2001, through which Feinstein empowers female artists. She does this by blurring the boundaries of many disciplines combining both male and female as well as historical and modern approaches to her art. A woman working successfully in the male dominated field of sculpture is rare. Feinstein embodies the role of mother, wife, artist and socialite encouraging and inviting changes for the New York art scene and the world at large. By her work and life she empowers female working artists by raising craft especially interior decoration to the status of high art. This paper finds that Feinstein brings her work to the understanding of the gallery viewer, by clearly explaining her intentions and drawing inspirations from current events. In this way, Feinstein is given a separate identity from her husband, in order to add important new scholarship on the work of female artists.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (MA)

Level thesis:degree_level

masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Art/Art History

Grantor dc:publisher

Bowling Green State University

Year dc:date

2013

Author dc:creator

• Gaier, Samantha

Contributors dc:contributor

• Hershberger, Andrew

• Aesthetics
• Architectural
• Architecture
• Art Criticism
• Art History
• Interior Design
• Womens Studies
• Fine Arts
• European History
• Design
• Rachel Feinstein
• Sorbet Room
• Rococo, Baroque
• sculpture
• interior decoration
• John Currin
• installation
• site specific
• fashion
• art
• Germany
• fairy tales
• contemporary
• feminist theory
• gender
• identity

Statement dc:rights

• unrestricted
• This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=bgsu1363604230

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:etd.ohiolink.edu:bgsu1363604230