Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book offers case studies on the oeuvres of eight artists whose art explores affective experience. Ruth Asawa, Sheila Pepe, Claire Falkenstein, Judith Scott, Sonia Gomes, Shinique Smith, Gego, and Janet Echelman all use simple materials to create networks of shadows that elicit an affective response that challenges traditional understandings of subjectivity. The book explores how repetition enabled Sheila Pepe’s work to focus on affective awareness and interdependence. It considers Henri Bergson’s philosophy of intuition, which designates intuition as a preverbal grasping of the connectedness of past, present, and future. Ther book focuses on shadows and their unique ability to engage the “in-between” nature of affective response for both artists and viewers. When feminist artists discovered the power to reach the body directly, bypassing the often sexist pitfalls of psychoanalytic discourse, they focused on craft-based practices to move through the affective.