Amanda Sharp

I was taught from an early age that I was responsible for my own safety and that it was likely that someone at some time would try to hurt me or take advantage of me—an accurate prediction that deeply colored how I moved, worked, and engaged with the world around me. I made myself small for a long time. But now I’m tired of making myself small. I'm tired of working in male-dominated industries where women make up a majority of the talented workforce. I’m tired of talking down my accomplishments and apologizing for my good work, and what sometimes feels like my existence, to make men feel better. Religion, politics, and the media remind me constantly that society views women and girls as a threat. Maybe we should be. I feel a collective rage reaching a boiling point. I’m announcing that oppression of the feminine is out. Feral women are in. Within each of us—women and men—is the divine feminine, and that’s why I consider this rage sacred. Ultimately this is reclamation as ritual—an offering of sorts to all the women who have come before us. This collection is a love letter to the women who refused, and continue to refuse, to submit, despite the risk. Women who do not shrink and are not small. Women who have been painted as villains, madwomen, bitches, or anything sinister, menacing, “crazy,” or “bad.” Through this collection I am advocating that you take up every inch of space available to you without apology. This collection is for those unbothered by perception. Be “bad” but look good—because they’ll try to burn you anyway. I opted to focus on technique and fabrication, as it was conventionally women's work. Everything is hand-dyed, and the other handwork was painstaking but worth every moment spent. amandasharpdesigns.com