Feminist Karma
Kelissa Semple
After numerous failed dates at thirty-years-old, I felt that I had completely seen and heard everything from obnoxious men. From the “DILF” returning to his child’s mother after our romantic relationship to the school “Principal”, who I went on three dates with and then fessed up to having a wife. There was the “Sex Addict” who took me to Disney World, bought me a thousand-dollar drone, only for me to find out he was sexting other women. They sent me terrible excuses, insincere apologies and dick pics. My anger and frustration inspired me to merge my graphic design skills with my study of photography and create a living piece of artwork from the lies that came out of their mouths via their own text messages. By taking the actual quotes from texts on my phone, I created textile patterns and designed a series of dresses. I hope these bold prints catch the viewers' attention and then make them look closer to read the text.
Wearing these dresses is a feminist act. I am wearing their lies on my body, making them public. I want my viewers to laugh with me at the absurdity of this bad behavior, to stand with me and publicly shame this as unacceptable.
How would these men feel if they saw a dress covered in their secrets and lies? The truth always comes out.
