Art is not just a bunch photographs or pictures made on a canvas; art is much more connected to the viewer than just being aesthetically pleasing. It pries into your emotional being and draws out sentiments and feelings. Art in its essence draws out different things in each person whether it is the dark feelings or the truly sublime. Pat Brassington's work seems to strike a chord that screams feminism. Brassington's work is visibly guided by a Freudian view, which makes her art take a darker bleak path into the viewer's emotions. Examining two of Brassington's pieces 1+1=3 and Rising damp you can see a feminist statement with a dark Surrealist underlining.
In Brassington's piece Rising damp (1995) she uses multiple black and white pictures of stained and dirtied women's underwear to create a stylish grid with around thirty individual pictures. The sheer size of the exhibit makes the viewer step back and attempt to take all of it in because it encompasses up almost an entire wall of the museum. This makes the viewer think that not only the pictures are a statement but also the way it is presented hollers notice me. It would almost be impossible for someone casually strolling through to not notice this display of feminism. If Brassington had made each picture smaller or had not included so many unique pieces into this display I believe that the meaning of it would differ. The piece wouldn't be so overbearing and in your face; it might not give you the viewer such an eerie sensation. Brassington's disuse of color has a tremendous effect upon the observer. The black and white pictures combined with the size provides an uneasy mood. The colorless underwear shown in the exhibit are cold and uninviting; one would most certainly not want to wear any of the undergarments presented in this piece. The disuse of color plays are large role in the overpower testimonial that Brassington sets forth.