Clamp Light Studios and Gallery in San Antonio’s Beacon Hill neighborhood hosted its monthly Second Friday art market on Sept. 12, featuring “Holy Bodies, Damned Minds,” an exhibit by embroidery artist Laura Stevens and multidisciplinary artist Brittany Drum.
The show explores the Madonna-whore complex, a psychological phenomenon in which women are reduced to two archetypes: the Madonna, seen as pure and divine, or the whore, seen as a promiscuous and sexual object. Using textiles, embroidery and costume design, Stevens and Drum said this exhibit challenges this binary and reclaims femininity as power.
“We’re just trying to show how just us being girls breaks the binary of what little stereotypes men want to put us into,” Stevens said. “So that’s what I really love about the Madonna-whore complex is that it takes that holy divinity, that women truly are, that we encapsulate and they perverse it. And I think that just throws the light of what our name is, ‘Holy Bodies, Damn Minds.’”
The exhibit includes Stevens’ embroidered tapestries of women’s bodies and handkerchiefs stitched with feminine designs — referencing the traditional gesture of a man giving a woman a handkerchief, but how women may question the expectation behind it. Drum’s work features metal-like costumes and fabrics resembling armor, symbolizing women’s strength, according to Drum. Together, they also created a collaborative piece, “The Cozy Little Womb Room,” a layered pink textile installation. They said it symbolizes the vagina and a woman’s body, along with the comfort that is brought from a woman’s womb.
For both artists, the exhibit is about empowerment. Stevens recalled being called a “b—-” by a boy when she was only seven years old — a moment that made her question how deeply misogynistic language is ingrained in society.
“I remember that moment being like, I’m pretty sure I gave you no attention, and that is the reason I got called a b—- at seven years old by another seven-year-old,” Stevens said. “And where did you learn that from?”
She said she hopes the exhibit sparks conversations between families and that they bring their daughters.
“This is what feminine power looks like,” Stevens said. “Whether it’s in art, whether it’s in business, whether it’s in law — that’s where your power lies. You have it all.”
Drum emphasized that while the work can serve as a wake-up call for men, the exhibit is meant first and foremost for women.
“This is for women. At the end of the day, I want to remind [them] that they have all the power and the community should come together more,” Drum said.
Clamp Light’s Second Friday events extend beyond its own walls. Across the street, Bright Coffee also showcases monthly exhibits. This month, photojournalist and Bright barista Clint Datchuk presented “Pledge of Allegiance,” an art show examining the toxicity of today’s political climate through a decade of photography.
“Art opens conversations that otherwise we may never have, and you’ll meet people you may otherwise never talk to,” Datchuk said. “The secret sauce of good art is that it gets people talking in a positive way.”
Beacon Hill’s Second Friday market brings together vendors, artists and community members every month. Clamp Light will host part two of “Holy Bodies, Damned Minds” in October and is currently accepting submissions from artists who want to add their own perspectives to the conversation.
