ROTOR Magazine

Interview by ROTOR

*Photography by* **Mike Owen** *merged with* **“Women artists do not exist”** by **Sarah Maple**

Rotor: 10 years on from your ‘I wish I had a penis’ exhibition, describe how you feel your work has made a difference to the equality of women? And have changes in society, made anything fairer for women in that time?

SM: (It’s actually 14 years since I made that work! There wasn’t an exhibition but I won a prize from the Saatchi gallery that year with this work)

SM: It’s hard to say. At first I had some great immediate responses where I could see people had really related to it but I didn’t know if it would have any long term impact. Now I get people who saw the work as a teenager contacting me, or art students who are now teachers who use my work in lectures which is always a great feeling. The ‘Signs’ piece (I wish I had a penis) gets people every time.

When I made that work feminism felt out of date and a dirty word, no one wanted anything to do with it. Now everyone wants to call themselves a feminist. In a way this is a bad thing because I feel like the true meaning of feminism has been lost over the years. In a way I’ve not made as much feminist work because it’s been so confusing to understand what the movement has become. I used to think feminism was simply equality and I said this a lot in the past – but now I think it has to be about more than that. It’s like when people say you have to be actively anti racist, it’s the same with feminism. It’s not okay to just say you are one. I think if men really understood what feminism means, what they would have to give up to be true to the cause, then far fewer people would want to join in. It’s very hard to give up your privilege.

Rotor: If you had to express the things you are passionate about in any form other than art what would that be?

SM: My first thought would be comedy but comedy is still art! My main love will always be visual art but I also love performing. I dipped my toe into this with my video art-meets-sitcom work ‘ Sarah Maple’s Nazi Sexy Shark Show’ which I made last year. It was an hour long autobiographical video piece which fused video art with sitcoms. It was exhibited in a show at Jealous Gallery and was also shown on Sky so it really played with that idea of what art can be, where it should be consumed and who it belongs to. It will also be shown in the upcoming exhibition at Giant in Bournemouth.

BREXIT+-+Englands+Glory+-+Sarah+Maple+CMYK.jpg — **“Send them back”** *(from Brexit series) by Sarah Maple*

Rotor: Tell us a bit about your mother, a Muslim born and raised in Kenya, is she devout? and what has she had to say about your Islamic related work?

SM: My family are from a large community of Muslims who moved from Pakistan to Kenya, then from Kenya to the Midlands in the 60’s. This is a lot to do with the result of the Empire which is why I talk about migration and British identity a lot in my work. My Mum does not enjoy some of the content but we’ve had many chats about it over the years and it’s clear she agrees with my sentiments but maybe not always the way I say them. Which I totally respect. She’s my Mum after all!

Rotor: Has the strong reaction; death threats and brick through gallery window etc deterred you, or emboldened your controversial depiction of Islamic women in your art?

SM: It’s kind of sad to me when I look back on it that this work appears so controversial because it detracts from what I was actually trying to say. A lot of this work was a reaction or rebellion against the depiction of Muslims as a threat and mainly Muslim women in immediate aftermath of 9/11- that we were all victims and forced to wear scarves against our will etc. Once someone I knew pointed at a picture of a Muslim woman they knew and said ‘she’s actually quite funny’. I never forgot that, this idea that Muslim women are all uptight and humourless, definitely not my experience! I was also responding to my mixed cultural identity as my Mum decided to marry a British non Muslim man (which was very controversial at the time) so a lot of my work looked at conflict of identity. So in this work I juxtaposed these two things, starkly contrasting two cultures, which I guess feels shocking but it was actually my lived reality. It also felt important to me to make funny pop culture images of Muslims and try and change the visual narrative at the time.

Rotor: Is there any point in organised religion in the twenty-first century First World?

SM: Well….it does lead to some fucked up stuff, but then I think that’s just often people using things as an excuse to exert control over others. But I have also seen the positive affect it can have, I’ve grown up with it and see the comfort it can give people so I don’t want to dismiss it completely.

**“If I loved you it was because of your hair, now you no longer have hair, I don’t love you anymore”** *by Sarah Maple*

Rotor: Has your outspokenness on equality for women advanced your career or hindered it?

SM: Haha I have no idea! Either way it’s not something I think about, I can’t help being outspoken on these things!

Rotor: Despite obviously being a feminist, do you believe in the concept of ‘ladies and gentlemen’/ aka Chivalry?

SM: My friend made this great artwork that has the text ‘chivalry is not the point’. When I think about chivalry, surely it’s just about being polite? People used to mention this all the time, like trying to deflect from the real issues. We’ve got much bigger fish to fry than this!

**“Menstruate with pride”** *by Sarah Maple*

Rotor: Has the ‘Me Too’ movement helped the feminist cause or distracted from it?

SM: I think men are still unaware just how many times women and girls are sexually harassed. It happens so much that we don’t even compute it. I think #MeToo did help to raise awareness and there does feel like a shift has taken place… but it’s still not enough.

Rotor: You are currently pregnant, If you have a girl, will you influence her views on women’s issues or let her make her own mind up?

SM: I will absolutely be educating her on this stuff as soon as I can but not in an overbearing way, I want to talk to her about it so she can come to her own conclusions. Kids have more sense than we realise. I remember being really young, about 5 or 6 years old and I went into my Dad’s office at work and there was a calendar of a Page Three girl or something. I remember thinking having a picture of a naked woman on the wall was wrong but I wasn’t sure why. A friend of mine also told me she had a similar experience and felt the same. It’s amazing how switched on children can be. We had more sense than the grown men in the room!

Rotor: Does diversity in modern pornography make it fairer on women and therefore okay?

SM: No, I am completely against the pornography industry. There may be ‘feminist porn’ but let’s face it, the vast majority is consumed by men and is extremely fucked up. The violence towards women – the misogyny is deeply depressing to me. That’s why I don’t believe that all these people who say they’re feminists actually are. How can you enjoy a video of a man choking a woman during sex and then say you believe in Women’s rights?

Rotor: Describe human fallibility as a consideration in your work.

SM: In a way, this is at the heart of a lot of my work. Because of the human psyche we will most likely never live in an equal society. We will need to constantly fight for our rights.

Rotor: Humour is a powerful weapon. Do you agree with this statement?

SM: Absolutely! This is why I love comedy and been very inspired by British comedies growing up, I think this had a huge impact on my work. I think when something is funny it just connects in a particular way….especially when it’s a difficult subject. It feels less preachy. I always think of Aussie comic Jim Jefferies and his stand up on gun control, it’s genius, so brilliant, puts the point across so well. Definitely worth a google.

Rotor: What is your favourite piece of art in the world, and if you owned it what would you do with it?

SM: What a question! There are so many pieces that have meant particular things to me over the years. One of my most memorable moments was an installation called ‘The Garden of Eden’ by Joana Vasconcelos. It was a massive completely blacked out room with all these sort of glow in the dark flowers covering the entire floor. It was so mezmorising. I was lucky I was completely on my own so I lay on the floor and just took it all in. It was at least 15 years ago but it really stayed with me. I wouldn’t mind having that in the house that I could retreat to whenever I liked!

**“Ariel conducts a business meeting”** *by Sarah Maple*

Rotor: Are the woke generation the new fascists for trying to censor everyone?

SM: Yes. Haha! Just kidding. To be honest the anti-wokers are all twats so I’d much rather be woke.

Rotor: Regarding the photo of you with Damien Hirst, what was going through your mind at that moment?

SM: Help.

BREXIT+-+British+Jobs+-+Sarah+Maple_CMYK.jpg — **“British jobs”** *by Sarah Maple*

Rotor: In your Disney series, Ariel seems to be in control of the board room. What is she telling the others in the room?

SM: Probably ‘Why are you men so incompetent?’. You know what, after that shoot when I took the wig and outfit off, one of the men from the pic looked so genuinely disappointed at how I looked out of the costume, I never forgot it, haha! He looked so sad. Sorry I’m not actually a cartoon mermaid mate!

Rotor: If it wasn’t for covid, how would you feel about a two week Disney cruise?

SM: Are we going together and are you paying?

Sarah Maple

Ben Venom

Rebekah

Home