Ellen Freyer

Becoming a Woman: Adult. Archival print. 20 x 16 inches. 2011

Becoming a woman means internalizing society’s expectations of the feminine, remaining bound literally and psychologically from childhood to adulthood.

Sara Friedlander

Chinese Women: Bound and Determined #1. Mixed media. 11.25 x 31 inches. 2001-12

These Chinese women, whom I’d photographed in 1983, many with bound feet, inspired my first mixed media series, Chinese Women: Bound and Determined. The secret nature and pathos of their unique suffering, and the dignity with which these women carried their plight, moved me deeply. I wanted others to see them as I had. In order to highlight their humanity, I painted onto and around the photographs, enhancing the atmosphere surrounding and supporting each woman.

Chiara Galimberti

I wanted to speak to the idea of social divisions between authority and rebellious forces, and specifically address the dynamics of how power is maintained and relinquished. I wanted to investigate how we are bound to our social position, and how there is both a struggle to break down those boundaries and the systematic investment in maintaining them that benefits the powerful, and disenfranchises people at the margins of power.

Margaret ‘Margo’ Garces

Rediscovering my artistic voice after a 25 year sabbatical has been integral to this work. This photograph shows the post struggling to do its job but tiring throughout the years, the post stays in place as it is bound to its farmer. This watercolor shows the parallels of our lives as we endure being bound to our own struggles, responsibilities and employer. Whether we are bound physically or mentally in our lives, the only way out is escape!

Knotted Wing. Felted wool and silk fiber. 60 x 25 x 10 inches. 2012

Knotted Wing was originally inspired by the idea of ambition bound by limitation. The weightless symbol of the wing, made from flossy wool, is knotted. Can it fly? Perhaps its secret lies in the transition of wool manipulations, as raw wool transforms into felted wing—a testament to evolution, growth and transformation. Intended as a secular work, I embrace tangential concepts such as mortality & religion that are drawn in by the cultural symbolism of the wing.

Marguerite Gilligan

Bound by Reason is an ongoing exploration, both personal and objective, that relates to the multifaceted nature of the used book; its material quality, its state of being, its smell, its aging process, its subject matter, and the memory that it holds (as reflected in its ephemeral quality). The book perpetuates my conflict with western knowledge and how it has bound us to war, orthodoxy and prejudice. My impulse, when faced with such an object, is to render it harmless.

Laine Godsey

My work engages in notions of familiarity and obscurity, including vulnerability, protection, and the contentious relationship of our bodies and the spaces to which they are bound. Social dynamics of the family, dwelling and the obtuse and abstract sense of being are all important topics within my research. Considering the ties that bind us to perceptual space, I am stirred to express a fluid relationship between the symbolic and the concrete—the conceived sense of place and the physicality of location.

Janice Gossman

Respect My Boundaries. Mixed-media: plastic, plaster, glue, and paint. 13 x 13 x 13 inches. 2012

A question of boundaries arose through a relationship with a very good friend. I have tried to find a visual expression for the feeling of having one’s personal boundaries crossed. In Respect My Boundaries the orb is being bitten all over by sets of fangs. Other sets of fangs on its surface face outward, conveying the orb’s intention to bite others who might further provoke it. The viewer is encouraged to reflect on her/his own set of personal boundaries, while also considering what materials the sculpture is made of.

Guerrilla Gowns

Guerrilla Gowns Revealing Symbolic Hidden Items from the Inside of Gowns. The performance is an organic unfolding experience for both viewer and performer. Variable. 2012*

We are Guerrilla Gowns, a group founded in the roots of relational art utilizing the elements of surprise performances in order to engage an audience and expand the discussion of feminine power with a contemporary approach emphasizing a quieter aesthetic. In this performance, in which artists are clothed in bridal gowns, we create a metaphoric event. This symbolizes a woman’s ability to dream and to manifest dreams, transforming our pasts, presents and futures by tapping into a liminal state between thought and action. Guerrilla Gowns Revealing Symbolic Hidden Items from the Inside of Gowns.

Kath Greco

We are bound by our own limitations but we also create imposed boundaries. Cocoon represents our self imposed boundary for comfort and protection. I collect bark pieces, preserve them and use them in my art. Tree bark acts as the host to surface plants like lichen and moss. These plant forms represent my mom’s untreatable cancer. She lives with the marks of the cancer but she is protected externally and surrounded by love, symbolized by the crochet cocoon.