‘A Woman With A GuN’ is a series of portraits featuring a woman within her home. The film stills shows the narrative of a dominant female who is in control and has the final say over her husband who is not worthy enough to be included.
Within this series, I study the connection between The Female Body, Domestic Spaces, and Memory. Initially, I went to the family album and was drawn to the woman's role within the family album, the family, and its hierarchy. I noticed how not all memories are covered within the family album and how “The archive is open to the threat of memory: the memory of its exclusions.” (K. Cross p.129). This made me question the truth of the family album and what is missing or who from the images. My research led me across Sara Lewkowicz series named ‘Maggie’ and my childhood trauma was reflected straight back at me. The series documents the abusive relationship between two parents and their daughters who are caught in their fight. This relates to my childhood experiences and I knew I needed to include a link to domestic abuse within my concept. I was influenced by Martha Rosler’s Semiotics of the Kitchen to include a weapon and create a staged scene in a vintage style. I wanted to create a series of staged cinematic still portraits of women in domestic settings that look empowering and in control reversing the roles of the family hierarchy. I researched female body language, breaking down the environment around the model and the connection between the two. I aimed to create a cinematic feeling within the environment, allowing the viewer to become trapped within the scene and question there own positions in the hierarchie.