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Image of Miss Alaska 1953 Muriel Hagberg, wearing a fur-trimmed bathing suit on iceberg in Kotzebue, 1953
Photograph by Frank H. Whaley
Anchorage Museum, Wien Collection, B1985.27.1453
Muriel Hagberg’s father was a gold miner from Sweden. Her Iñupiaq mother, Laura Wright, designed and patented the Laura Wright Alaskan Parky, a popular garment for both winter and summer seasons that is still made and sold in Alaska today. Hagberg was crowned Miss Alaska in 1953 and competed in the Miss Universe pageant that same year.
Danielle Andress, (b. 1985)
Object of Desire, 2016
Cotton, wool, and yarn
Collection of the Anchorage Museum, 2019.23.1
Korean-American artist Danielle Andress was born in Fairbanks, Alaska. Her weaving Object of Desire draws a parallel between the art object and her experience as a woman. In the US, weaving is most often gendered female and often categorized as “craft,” existing outside the realm of fine art. Andress refutes this notion with her conceptual weavings, incorporating wordplay and pop-cultural references.
Margret Hugi-Lewis, (b. 1941)
Delft, 2001
Mixed media
On loan from University of Alaska Museum of the North
Delft is a city in the Netherlands, which became world-renowned in the 17th century for its pottery that was more attainable than Chinese porcelain. Delftware, still produced today, often features blue details on a white background.
Swiss-born (now living and working in Alaska) artist Margret Hugi-Lewis’ use of Delftware patterning on this torso, and her addition of cabinet handles, imply that women’s bodies may be perceived as objects of decoration and utility.
Suzy Lake, (b. 1947)
Pucker, from the series Beauty at a Proper Distance, 2001
Digital chromogenic print
On loan from the artist
American-Canadian artist Suzy Lake explores the cultural obsession with, and commodification of, female youth in her series Beauty at a Proper Distance. From afar, these photographs look like advertisements from a fashion magazine, but, up close they reveal imperfections and signs of aging. Lake says, “As an older woman I am the ‘other,’ yet I have an experienced life to celebrate. In making this work, I employ media strategies and signifiers to sell an image of maturity to an audience infatuated with youth.”
Nicotye Samayualie, (b. 1983)
School of Nail Polish, 2018
Graphite, colored pencil, ink
On loan from Dorset Fine Arts
School of Nail Polish depicts an abundance of nail-polish bottles and colors, arranged evenly across the picture plane, almost like words on a page. The artist’s choice of composition and title suggests that the expression of femininity is a language or system that must be learned, like a subject in school.
Shellie Zhang, (b. 1991)
Purity Control, 2014-2015
Chromogenic print
On loan from the artist
Chinese-Canadian artist Shellie Zhang collects and photographs objects as a way of investigating what they communicate about a person, group, or the broader culture. Purity Control shows items marketed towards women. Each is intended to remove something from the body, whether hair, skin, or blemishes. The blue background evokes a hospital-like sterility.
