Twelve Thousand Labors is a 6’ diameter circular quilt depicting women at labor, utilizing the visual language of Early Classical Attic pottery. Athenians oered white-ground lekythos as funerary votives – and symbolic dowries – for women who died before marriage. In these ancient terracotta vessels, scenes and associated motifs are arrayed in concentric circles; gural imagery is outlined, and female gures were left unpainted.

Classical Athenian – or Attic – pottery maintained a consistent visual language which communicated and prioritized the prevalent ideology. As a result, Attic pottery de-emphasized women laboring; Attic ideology believed that the concept of “work” was masculine. Surviving Attic artwork does not reliably portray the involvement of women’s work in all levels of society – the home, marketplace, agriculture, government. Attic women were constantly laboring to support their households; the belief that women must not leave their house or work was only achievable for the upper classes. This idealization was just that – unattainable, quixotic – but has been inherited and reproduced throughout history.

The scenes in my quilt mythologize and celebrate the women in a society which simultaneously repressed them and was dependent on them. Through contextualizing the historical understanding of Ancient Greek women’s labor with their under-representation in mythology, ancient writings, and artwork, this piece exposes the perpetuation of women’s invisible labor.

I am calling back to the same Classical past which inspired the masculine mythos of the Romans, of the Medieval Ages, of the Renaissance, of Neoclassical artwork, and of the Academy. But unlike those who have come before me, I will not apotheosize a society which refused to recognize their women. I am recognizing this hypocrisy, and through my work, am reclaiming this narrative:

Women, and their labor, are the basis on which society functions.

Women must be celebrated.

Bio

Gem Miller is an experimental printmaker and quilter with a focus on folk and historically inspired processes. Her practice draws inspiration from art history, often incorporating traditional processes with contemporary practices. She investigates – through creation and research – how art and culture constantly transform each other, and where this cyclical relationship has allowed ancient idealism to dictate contemporary reality. Her creative objective is to elicit warmth – through laughter, joy, or the feeling of being embraced. Miller incorporated quilting into her printmaking practice out of a desire to return to her textile roots and to create art which can bring people a very real, very tangible warmth. Her artistic practice is centered around handcrafting: intentional creation for the love of the process. Consequently, her work toys with the concept of labor – the labor inherent in creation, as well as labor as an intangible but immeasurable commodity.

Exhibition