Belle the football manager, 2011

Sarah Maple   New & remarkable Artists

The pieces from this series are part of the permanent collection at The Fralin Museum of Art (USA).

My 2011 Disney Princess series, takes 6 Disney Princesses and places them in the world of work. On watching the Disney Princess films, I noted that although Disney have made an effort to modernise these Princess stories, the original films are more popular than ever. I am interested in how gender stereotypes get planted into our minds at such a young age through, film, television, advertising and popular culture. 

These highly constructed and detailed images are like film stills; my visibility is amplified by the stark contrast between the iconic costumes and the contemporary settings. By depicting princesses engaging in labour outside of traditional domestic spaces, I aim to confront harmful patriarchal representations of femininity that continue to be reinforced and commodified.

I aim to questions perceptions of gender in much of my work, especially this idea of 'Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus'. This is the perception that men and women's personalities and capabilities are biologically determined by their gender – which conveniently sets men at the top of the food chain, in terms of money and positions of power. 

My argument is that we are the same and learn how to be male and how to be female from the moment we are born.  Through everything from tv, advertising and popular culture, the way the world views us and treats us. And the cycle repeats.