Artist Statement
Within each piece I create, there is a calling to explore and understand the female experience. There is a part of me described in each character as well as an attempt to represent a shared female experience. I document and invent women that I hope will teach me about what it means to be a woman. I intuitively tell the stories that are not just my own, but that of my family, friends and the women that have permeated my life. These are also women with whom I identify with from history. I have studied many accounts of uniquely female life experiences throughout different time periods, cultures, political and social milieus, which inherently trickle into my narratives and inform me further about life as a woman.
By taking a closer look at women’s history, I realize that women have been reflected in art, literature, philosophy and religion as mans’ “other”. Up until very recently the female point of view has largely been ignored in reconstructing the past. The activities of men were considered to be much more significant to historical development while the activities of women have been marginalized. Women’s stories or not marginal and need to be heard. Through my artmaking process, I feel I can give women a voice.
When I draw women, I ask myself “what is the female experience? What does it mean to be a woman?” When I reflect on these questions I come to some conclusions. The first and most obvious one being that a woman is different biologically. The unique physical capabilities of the female body are profound, life altering and empowering, but man has for centuries seen sexuality and procreation as a duty of women not a right. I also conclude that gender has been in many ways socially constructed. Women are expected to play specific roles such as mother and caretaker, meek, demure and obedient. A woman is so much more than these historically gender specific roles. Being a woman is more than biological, and goes well beyond critically looking at gender as a social construct. However these things have been defining characteristics of women for centuries and must be incorporated into what we know and understand about women today in contemporary society. We limit women by trying to figure out what kind of woman she is and what she is capable of. Instead, I look at what kind of experiences a woman has been through and how that allows her to see the world.
Through my image making process I look for ways to show a female perspective in the making of history and try to show the world as seen through the eyes of women. Making these images is not only a way for me to understand the woman that I am, but the woman that I want to become. I am completely liberated in revealing the pain and confusion of my own female experience. It becomes a ceremonious communion for me with all women who both suffer and strive to overcome adversity. I aim to be brutally honest about both the struggle of womanhood as well as the triumphs, which allows me to achieve a healing and self-defining resolution within myself. My artmaking process thrusts me into a place where I can truly realize and celebrate the growth and progress made by women. When I draw women, what I am most interested in is confronting and dismantling societal expectations that keep women from being the complicated, complex and powerful individuals that they are today and always have been.
Within each piece I create, there is a calling to explore and understand the female experience. There is a part of me described in each character as well as an attempt to represent a shared female experience. I document and invent women that I hope will teach me about what it means to be a woman. I intuitively tell the stories that are not just my own, but that of my family, friends and the women that have permeated my life. These are also women with whom I identify with from history. I have studied many accounts of uniquely female life experiences throughout different time periods, cultures, political and social milieus, which inherently trickle into my narratives and inform me further about life as a woman.
By taking a closer look at women’s history, I realize that women have been reflected in art, literature, philosophy and religion as mans’ “other”. Up until very recently the female point of view has largely been ignored in reconstructing the past. The activities of men were considered to be much more significant to historical development while the activities of women have been marginalized. Women’s stories or not marginal and need to be heard. Through my artmaking process, I feel I can give women a voice.
When I draw women, I ask myself “what is the female experience? What does it mean to be a woman?” When I reflect on these questions I come to some conclusions. The first and most obvious one being that a woman is different biologically. The unique physical capabilities of the female body are profound, life altering and empowering, but man has for centuries seen sexuality and procreation as a duty of women not a right. I also conclude that gender has been in many ways socially constructed. Women are expected to play specific roles such as mother and caretaker, meek, demure and obedient. A woman is so much more than these historically gender specific roles. Being a woman is more than biological, and goes well beyond critically looking at gender as a social construct. However these things have been defining characteristics of women for centuries and must be incorporated into what we know and understand about women today in contemporary society. We limit women by trying to figure out what kind of woman she is and what she is capable of. Instead, I look at what kind of experiences a woman has been through and how that allows her to see the world.
Through my image making process I look for ways to show a female perspective in the making of history and try to show the world as seen through the eyes of women. Making these images is not only a way for me to understand the woman that I am, but the woman that I want to become. I am completely liberated in revealing the pain and confusion of my own female experience. It becomes a ceremonious communion for me with all women who both suffer and strive to overcome adversity. I aim to be brutally honest about both the struggle of womanhood as well as the triumphs, which allows me to achieve a healing and self-defining resolution within myself. My artmaking process thrusts me into a place where I can truly realize and celebrate the growth and progress made by women. When I draw women, what I am most interested in is confronting and dismantling societal expectations that keep women from being the complicated, complex and powerful individuals that they are today and always have been.
