Artist Conversation 5

Artist: Micol Hebron
Exhibition: Gallery Tally
Media: Digital Media
Website: http://micolhebron.com

About the Artist

Micol Hebron is a professor at Chapman University but has spoken about her art to other classes many times. She graduated from UCLA Undergrad in 1995. Micol grew up in the woods of Northern California with “radical hippie parents,” so there was no real date or time when she discovered her love for art. She was constantly trying different methods of art and implementing change that she wanted to see in her art. Art is also a way for her to learn about herself and, especially in college, it was a way to process her trauma of sexual assault. Micol rarely gets bored, as the world has so many different aspects to learn about and make art about the things that she is learning and experiencing.

Formal Analysis

The majority of the art that Micol Hebron showed us can be easily accessible through a cellular device, as many of them were uploaded to Facebook or Instagram. The art images are not particularly large, but the meaning behind her art can still be seen and felt. Micol includes a lot of her own body in the art that she produces, with various little adjustments made to them. Her art does not focus on the fabrication of objects, but rather images based on social media and social happenings. There is no particular color scheme that she adheres to, as her images can be full of color, neutral, or black and white. Many of her pieces require a deeper understanding of the issue of gender equity to fully understand.

Content Analysis

Many of Micol Hebron’s works correlate to the feelings she experienced with being uncomfortable in her own skin and body after being sexually assaulted. She did not understand why her female nipples were being censored and her photos being deleted, while the male nipples were able to be showcased freely. In particular, Facebook has given her many strikes for showing female nipples, which makes her on the verge of being completely banned from the site. Now, she has created many different feminist activism art images that test where the line is of what is allowed to be shown and what is still banned. Micol noticed that different “famous people” are allowed to show images of their body or others’ body parts with nipples and butts, but she was still getting censored. Unbelievably, a white male artist took credit for the same work and movement that Micol Hebron had been working on for five years.

My Experience

I really enjoyed being able to hear about the past and present experiences that Micol Hebron faced and is continuing to show in her artworks. Having an entire class period dedicated to learning more about her journey as an artist and the meaning behind the work that she produces was something that I really enjoyed. I rarely have time to listen to an artist for over an hour, so this experience allowed me to have the opportunity to know more about the person I am doing my artist conversation on. It was very empowering to see her talk and explain the issues regarding a woman’s body and the ways society treats it in comparison to a male body. Micol is definitely passionate about her work and it makes me happy to know that she is truly making a big difference on societal issues.