I grew up listening to Carole King and Carly Simon—my mum would always play their tapes in our old, always breaking down Volvo. Though I wasn’t conscious of it at the time, their lyrics instilled in me the knowledge that women are powerful, even when we’re at our most vulnerable, our most heartsick—even when it’s over a man.
As I grew older, I fell in love with Aretha Franklin, who taught me that if you need something, you can demand it. R-E-S-P-E-C-T, for instance. I sense a hint of sarcasm in that song, like “HELLO, my having to ASK you for this is ridiculous,” which is a good thing to remember when we do get caught up in one of those heart-wrenching relationships.
I was always considered the daggiest person at high school parties for adding Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive” to the playlist. After my first boyfriend broke up with me, that was the song that healed me.
And no matter how many times I hear Helen Reddy’s classic feminist anthem “I Am Woman,” it still makes my heart swell, and makes me feel like “That’s right—I can do anything!”
There’s something about the unbridled, unapologetic passion of this music by women during the second wave of Western feminism (roughly from the early 1960s to the early 1980s) that fills me with an irrepressible feeling—almost like patriotism—for BEING A WOMAN. This collage series was made with my heart bursting with gratitude for these women, the (much) older sisters I never had.
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Gorgeous collages- I love the lion in the first one!
P.s. I have just started making collage art and I was wondering how/where to find good images without infringing on copyright. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know! :)
One website is vintage printable, it has a lot of public domain images. And also the library of congress has a lot of images but I’m not sure about the copyright restrictions :)
Aaaahhh I loved this one! Stevie will always be my favorite :)
groupie–love.tumblr.com
YEAH GIRLPOWER!
BEAUTIFUL!
The song ‘I Am Woman’ just reminds me of Umbridge from AVPM
this is truly wonderful minna
I Will Survive got me through a painful unrequited crush that lasted, depending on how you look at it, either one and a half years, or five years.
But I don’t really like the lyrics of I Am Woman. I hate the idea that to be feminist means to be capable of everything and invincible. And I hate the idea that this one woman represents ALL women, or, alternately, that her womanhood is the extent of her personality. It implies that she “IS” woman, as opposed to an individual.
These are absolutely PERFECT~
these are WONDERFUL I’m so inspired! Is that by any chance an old self-portrait of Sofonisba Anguissola in the background of umber 9?? I have no idea but it reminded me of her, I think she was truly a feminist before feminism even existed.
ooommmmggggg <3333333
YES
I love ’em! Gotta love women and old music :) gurlpower yo!
loooooooove it
Oh my gooooood pattie boyd <3___<3!!!
sew cewl it’s like a blast from the past
minna’s work is always so lovely. also, pattie boyd!!! <3
These are all beautiful and awesome
I would love to stick these all Over my bedroom wall
Anaruizwriting.blogspot.com
no. 12 is AMAZINGQ
like, Ohmygod?! Wow.
wow these are really cool, and THE LAST ONE. i nearly died because last year also cut that girl out of an old national geographic, and then made a collage with it for art, and then drew her in charcoal – so i’m feeling a major connection over here!!! that’s really exciting
LINDA! <#
WOW! I love them all so much, and I thought they couldn’t get any better, but then the last one just blew the rest out of the water! So much happiness, so much grrrl power! YES!
pattie boyd isn’t a musician….
3, 6, and 11 are perfect. <3
YES YES YES I love everything about this!!! Minna, you are a collage magician, these are perfect <3 <3