Domestic Goddess
Exhibition, Artisan Brisbane, 2011
Kitchen cupboard and kitchen draw front panels, cookie cutters, yarns, pearls, and beads (2m x 3m room)
Chrys Zantis’ Domestic Goddess is influenced by feminist theory and mythology, and investigates art’s possibilities in the wake of feminism, the role of traditional female crafts in conceptual art and in the construction of contemporary female identity. By mixing the traditional domestic craft of knitting with the language of contemporary art, Zantis endeavours, on one hand to empower the female body by creatively redeploying an activity that previously symbolised women’s repression.
Domestic Goddess looks at the ritual, seduction, romantic notions, and power that reside in the domestic kitchen. The intent for these carefully knitted, crocheted and beaded sculptures is to seduce the viewer, to entice due to their detail and construction.
The choice of colour and material alludes to safety and comfort, yet within the sculptures of Domestic Goddess these elements are invested with new reference, and are utilized to generate a more challenging discussion.