The Female Self in the Drawings of Modern and Postmodern Female Artists

This research highlights the visual techniques and methods adopted by female artists to deconstruct stereotypes about women, whether through the use of bodily symbols, the invocation of self-narratives, or the employment of concepts such as gender, identity, and marginality. The study also discusses how some female artists have transcended the boundaries of the female body as merely an object for display, transforming the body itself into a tool of resistance and self-expression. The research relies on an analytical-descriptive approach to study a selected group of works by female artists from the Modernism and Postmodernism periods, aiming to uncover the intellectual and aesthetic dimensions through which female subjectivity was presented. The research concludes that these works were not merely aesthetic attempts, but rather conscious expressions seeking to dismantle traditional perceptions and open new spaces for understanding women as independent, diverse, and liberated beings, free from the constraints of a singular perspective. The research is structured into four chapters. The first chapter covers the research problem, objectives, importance, and need, as well as the temporal, spatial, and thematic boundaries. The second chapter consists of two sections: the first discusses philosophers' and thinkers' views on female subjectivity, while the second examines the methods employed by female artists in representing female subjectivity during the Modernism and Postmodernism periods, along with works by artists from these periods. The third chapter focuses on the research procedures and the analysis of a selection of works by female artists addressing female subjectivity. Finally, the fourth chapter presents the findings and conclusions.