Stroppy Objects: Belongings With Opinions | Winchester School of Art Library | 01.09.23 - 05.10.23

Stroppy Objects was an exhibition held in the foyer of the Winchester School of Art Library (West Side Building) in 2023. The show featured a collection of found objects that I had upcycled and transformed with slogans or reimagined meanings—such as a dressing gown titled The Righteous Robe and matching Shouty Slippers, emblazoned with lessons learned during lockdown and disruptive inner thoughts like “resist the nap.” I also exhibited pieces from the Dazzled Beauty Collection, a series of fake cosmetic products that satirize the absurd promises of the beauty industry by offering more practical remedies, like assertiveness or a cure for “hangxiety.” The objects were displayed in dialogue with selected books from the Winchester School of Art Library, including Sweaters That Talk Back by Lisa Anne Auerbach and All Made Up: 100 Years of Cosmetics Advertising, creating a playful and critical conversation around self-image, consumer culture, and everyday resistance.

Stroppy Objects - Library Exhibitions and Events - LibGuides@Southampton at University of Southampton Library

Loungewear for Living:

Innocent pink fluffy slippers and dressing gown are embellished with stroppy text that reflect the lessons I learned in lockdown. 

Put your feet up in The Shouty Slippers, and ignore that nagging inner voice that’s telling you to DO things. 

Throw on The Righteous Robe, which reminds you that there are other things in life outside of earning more, owning more and looking your best. See your family, friends and make working part-time your goal: even if society judges you for it. In this world, working forty hours a week is highly illegal. 

Cosmetics with Clout:

My fantasy collection of cosmetics condemn the purpose of traditional beauty products and their advertising claims. 

Would it be more useful to buy a cream for assertiveness rather than anti-aging? Or feeling free to be yourself rather than being well-moisturised? Or a perfume that guarantees that you will be taken seriously, even if you are glamorous as hell? Look no further, The Sexy but Serious Scent and The Dazzled Beauty Collection are here to save you.

 If you’re still struggling to make important decisions with confidence, hair dye I’ve Never Done Anything Temporarily shuns the semi-permanent, and anyone who questions your prowess.