| An artist and teacher for nearly 25 years, Deborah Rockman is currently a Professor of Art at Kendall College of Art and Design. During her artistic career, Deborah has carved herself a niche as a cultural critic using art as a means of confronting issues of gender, language and the taboos of society. I had a talk to Deborah about the series “Waging a Word War” where the honest artist bluntly tells her story and the ideas behind her provocative and award-winning work. | 
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An artist and teacher for nearly 25 years, Deborah Rockman is currently a Professor of Art at Kendall College of Art and Design. During her artistic career, Deborah has carved herself a niche as a cultural critic using art as a means of confronting issues of gender, language and the taboos of society. I had a talk to Deborah about the series “Waging a Word War” where the honest artist bluntly tells her story and the ideas behind her provocative and award-winning work.
Mathilde Digmann: What is initially interesting to me is that your art very much deals with issues in real life as opposed to art that mostly deals with the concept of art itself—do you perceive one of your goals as an artist to point out problems and to make people reflect on everyday issues using art as a means?
Deborah Rockman: Absolutely. I am interested in seducing the viewer through technique and, once I have their interest, I want them to deal with those things that many people do not want to think about. I want to pull their head out of the sand and acknowledge that these problems are real and they are problems for all of us.
MD: In relation to your point on seducing the viewer, I noticed that your images are not only strong, but also beautiful. How do you imagine an onlooker will be touched when confronted with them?
DR: This notion of seduction is an ongoing element in my work. Because of the technical quality of my art, I am able to interest a viewer who is generally more drawn to representational work. They appreciate the skill level involved. So, I can literally pull them into the piece and, once they get close enough, their experience may shift to include my conceptual intentions. Although it’s a crude parallel, I can seduce them (perhaps like a vampire) and, once they move in closer, they may be bitten in a way that changes them forever. I do want to have an impact on the way people think about the world around them—that contrary to what they may want to believe, all is not well.
MD: Do you feel that art can be used as a means for making people deal with othervise taboo issues and, if so, how have you experienced this concerning your own work?
DR: Yes, imagery is evoked through language. My work has been censored on a number of occasions, and for a number of different reasons. I have dealt with sexual abuse in my work, I have dealt with the abuse and neglect of children, I have dealt with the hypocrisy of religion and, in the process, I have been accused of making imagery that promotes child pornography. Museums have had to move my work to less visible locations because of complaints. I don’t pussy foot around the issues. I dive right in. And a lot of people are very uncomfortable with that.
MD: To me, the works seem very aggressive and this provokes a different way of thinking about gender. What does this series mean to you personally and how do you feel about making works that are so strong that they have to be censored?
DR: I am accustomed to being censored, both professionally and personally. As a lesbian, I have had to deal with various forms of censorship and language abuse my entire life. It appeals to me to make people angry, to provoke some kind of strong response, even if it is a negative response. I am a cultural critic, and I am not particularly timid about telling my story through my work. I am disturbed by complacency, and I am surrounded by it. I am aware that I straddle the worlds of privilege and oppression, and it is an interesting position to be in. Hence, I am less interested in art about art, and more interested in art about life.
MD: Can you tell me what provoked you to do the “Waging a Word War” series?
DR: I have a strong interest in language on a variety of levels—as a symbol system (semiotics) and as a purveyor of culture. The ways in which language is used as a weapon is of special interest to me. And, as a writer, I love the beauty of language as well as the vagueness of it (deconstruction). I am particularly aware of language in relation to women, and how we are often reduced to food or animals or inanimate objects. Language is powerful and meaningful at the same time, and doesn’t simply reflect our culture but also creates our culture.
MD: You already touched upon this topic, but can you explain the title of this series as well as the idea behind juxtaposing words and images?
DR: Language has the potential to be a weapon of abuse and condemnation, hence the war reference. When I juxtapose words and images, I am heightening the contrast between the subversion of a particular word and the actual meaning of the word without all the baggage. So, when you look at a beautiful dog, and look through the word "bitch" to see the dog, you have the experience (ideally) of shifting back and forth between your understanding of and associations with the imagery, and your understanding of and associations with the text.
MD: That is a very interesting point. Can you also tell me what the use of domestic animals in this series signifies?
DR: Just that…domesticity. Women are equated with animals in part because our culture equates the masculine with domination over nature, and that extends to women as objects to be owned and as something to dominate. We are the perfect pet as long as we behave properly and follow orders.
MD: You have also touched upon this topic before, but I am curious as to what kinds of reactions these specific works have gotten?
DR: People are not terribly comfortable with the word "pussy," and so the piece entitled A Pussy Has Muscles… has freaked a lot of people out. It is also pretty interesting to note the number of people who don’t really get it—who look past the text and respond to the nice drawing of an animal. If and when an unaware viewer is made aware, their level of discomfort climbs, and that’s a good thing.
