The Language of Machines: A Technical Perspective on Art, Women and Mechanics

Social stereotypes in industrial countries have long regarded women as lacking the capacity for understanding the intricacies of machines, from appliances to cars. A major barrier excluding women from technology was the specialized language spoken by those in the industry. It is through my unique perspective as a female Automotive Master Technician that I explore the photographs, paintings, and prints during the interwar period between World War I and World War II created by female artists from a technical point of view. The First World War had artists such as Olive Edis who recorded female ambulance drivers while Dorothy Stevens, Henrietta Mabel May and Anna Airy showcased the skillset of the women machinists. During the interwar period Elsie Driggs rendered monumental structures while capturing the essence of the airplane all in the Precisionist style as Sonia Delaunay used her theory of Simultanism on the inner workings of the Spitfire airplane. For WWII, photographers M. Thérèse Bonney and Ann Roesner both snapped pictures of women operators of the lathe and drill press. Ethel Gabain’s prints displayed women machining parts and Edna Reindel depicted women in shipyards. During the New Deal and WWII, Barbara Wright shot over 2,600 images of women. Finally, Laura Knight painted portraits of award winning women and to uplift the spirits of the public. These artists proved that women were more than capable of understanding this complex language of machines.