CLUMSY
ROSE
2021
Wool Yarn
35 x 83 x 22cm
“Are there any clothes that you feel too cute or too girly to wear? Or is there anything you feel too cute or too girly to do?” Clumsy Rose is discussing why people sometimes shy away from the idea of cuteness.
The idea of what is cute and what isn't is influenced by the economy, consumerism, pop culture, and the long history of beauty standards. It is a reflection of what society appreciates. The rejection of cuteness stems from several different aspects of the patriarchal system. Cuteness is often over-sexualized and objectified, seen as catering to the male gaze, or even fetishizing innocence. Cuteness is often used to describe the inferior others that are not enough to be called “beautiful”. According to Edmond Burke, cuteness is beauty with “the idea of weakness and imperfection”, and thus suggesting the need for protection. Cuteness is also often commodified, belittled as the pleasing but shallow aesthetic aimed towards female consumers.
Clumsy Rose is feminine, soft, innocent, and cute, but also revealing, awkward, chaotic, intense and almost grandma-ish. It is a mixture of a lot of things, just as most women are. Being clumsy doesn’t mean she is not a rose, and being cute doesn’t mean she can not be powerful.