femmage means any artwork created by women by assembling objects, as by collage, photomontage, etc. It carries an Arena rating of 1320, earned across 5 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, femmage ranks #1,494 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #1,615 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #4,619 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #7,355 of 17,104 for Most Storied Words.
Why “femmage” is a great word
An artistic practice in which works are created by women using techniques and materials traditionally relegated to the domestic sphere. Coined in the 1970s by artists Miriam Schapiro and Melissa Meyer, the term is a blend of 'fem-' (from French 'femme', meaning 'woman') and '-mage' (from 'collage'). Unlike 'collage,' a general term for adhered compositions, or 'assemblage,' which broadly denotes constructed sculptures, femmage carries the explicit weight of feminist reclamation, centering women's authorship and historical craft. It is the piecing of a quilt from cherished fabric scraps, the intricate layering of family photographs and handwritten recipes, and the patient embroidery over a fragment of vintage lace—a quiet insistence that the archive of women's hands is also a site of high art.
Etymology
Coined by Miriam Schapiro and Melissa Meyer in the 1970s.
noun
- Any artwork created by women by assembling objects, as by collage, photomontage, etc.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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