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FLEMING MARKEL

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Our culture perpetuates many traditions and beliefs within our governing, religious and social institutions. Most of these traditions and beliefs are myths, unfounded notions. Fueled by current consumerism, language, and gender identity, these myths control our daily lives by prescribing our individual view of ourselves as well as our worldview. Fleming Markel tries to counteract the control of these myths by constructing objects that question their veracity. She employs objects primarily associated with women or women’s crafts. Markel approaches these myths with an appreciation for the ridiculous and in homage to the Feminist Art of the 1970s. Actual objects or their names usually provide the seed from which the sculptures grow. Fleming makes objects she wants to see and thereby mitigates the power of the myth they perpetuate. These sculptures are absolutely autobiographical and are my effort to debunk one myth at a time on a feminist life’s journey. 

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Though “Pent-Up Pink” is a record of Markel's personal female journey made for her granddaughters specifically, the exhibition seeks to speak to a much wider audience. Fleming hopes it questions gender identity and the role culture plays in defining gender, and anticipates discussions concerning the roles of biological prescriptions, cultural myths, and personal preferences play in our individual definitions of gender.

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BIO

Fleming Markel was born and raised in and has spent almost her entire life in South Carolina. She received her BA from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC, and her Masters of Education from the University of South Carolina. After spending 20 years or so as a mom and community volunteer, Fleming was accepted into the graduate visual art program at Clemson University, graduating with an MFA just before she turned 50. Markel spent a number of years working in Lee Gallery at Clemson University and is presently the Director of Galleries at Greenville Technical College. She lives in Greenville with her husband and two dogs.

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