Political Art in the Female Form

From the August edition of Women, Power and Politics: How Do Women Bring About Democracy?, "Anahi DeCanio uses collage and the female form to encourage her audience to piece together the political questions of the day. Inspired by her father, the first feminist in her life, who recently passed at age 89, and 20 years witnessing gender discrimination as a stockbroker on Wall Street, she creates art that links women's equality to issues of democracy, peace, security and human rights."


In this article, Anahi DeCanio addresses political questions through her art installations of sculpture and assembled collage, including such elements as a mannequin, jewelry, paper doves, tags, bullets, and found objects. Among the many questions she addresses are the following: "Can I use sparkly stuff on my work to make a statement about poverty? Is peace really unpatriotic? Do we need bullets to get there?" She examines inequalities of women, and, in particular, women of colour. She intends to make people think, make them talk, make them feel, and move them to action. For example, she uses the symbol of a black dove to raise the question of the symbolism of colour (Do a black dove and a white dove both symbolise peace and understanding?) One of her works is entitled "Ode to Rosa Parks" (catalyst of the United States Civil Rights movement) to honour Ms. Parks' "courage, dignity and plain old backbone." She explains about her work as it relates to political power: "When I allow myself to dream big, I think that maybe I can inspire someone to speak up for a better world, to stand up for the rights of others, or to simply sit down to claim their own."