The Women is a collaborative portrait project with the women in my life—family, friends and colleagues. It is a series of some two dozen life-size assemblages & vignettes that reveal the complexity of private and public identity as represented through our material possessions. In November/December 2019 InLiquid Gallery, Philadelphia is presenting an exhibition of these works. The Women will gather, displayed together as if at a party—a cacophonous celebration that reflects my specific circle as it invites guests to also examine their own identities.
The works vary widely in their approach. Each begins with a series of private conversations, where I learn more about the subject and we brainstorm visual representations of the different aspects of their lives. The final materials are a combination of pieces that they contribute to the work, and others that I purchase or construct to help achieve the vision.
Some portraits are encyclopedic—with objects and music representing as many aspects of the subjects' lives as possible, stacked and assembled and played en masse. The resulting pieces are exuberant and maximal, with the viewer putting together clues and building an impression as if assembling a jigsaw puzzle.
Others focus more narrowly, telling a specific story that stands in for the whole—a more minimal approach to storytelling, more poem, less novel. The contrast provides formal variety, offers additional hints to personalities, and reflects the evolution of the project over its six year journey.
The exhibition will also include a Charm Bar—an extension of my work as a jewelry designer, and an affordable opportunity for visitors to create a portrait of themselves through their choices and combinations of eclectic and symbolic charms.
Education
1985 Slade School of Art, London Certificate
1983 University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA BA, English
Awards & Honors
Residencies
2015 Slade School of Fine Art, London, England
Grants
1983 - 1985 Thouron Award for two years study in the UK
