Honoring Women’s Rights: Echoing Visual Voices Together ARTISTS

*indicates invited artists broken dreams, our living dreams our lives as women.

She was amongst the crowd of almost two million individuals on a frigid January 20, 2009 at the presidential inauguration ceremony in Washington, DC. She is the symbol of hope at this time in American history. It is as if her glance is towards the future prosperity for all and the dreams to be created by all.

The painting is a portrait of a little girl wearing a school uniform. Her right arm shows a bar code/distribution mark and on her blouse is a patch with a school coat of arms which states Ain’t I A Woman?, founded 1851. This is the title of the famous speech given by women’s rights activist Soujourner Truth, which was delivered in 1851 at the Ohio Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio. This image was created to imply the human rights issues existing today for women, specifically children’s slavery and labor.

This fourteen-foot-high figure connects mind to body and hands to heart. After 40 years of feeling disengaged from my own body because of childhood abuse, I’ve begun to undo the damage and rebuild myself into a whole person. The size of piece has required strength and stamina I didn’t know I had. In creating such a large self portrait, I declare to the world ‘This body is mine, for my own purpose.’ My capable hands have built a message from my heart in the form of a red kite; I am sending the kite out to other women.

In this joyful rendering, women are celebrating and calling together for equal rights. I create featureless faces in my paintings so that any woman can see herself lifting her voice together with everyone. These voices cannot be silenced now. A connected world brings women of all cultures together, combining strength and resources. Empowered women have to help those who are not empowered. My goal is to let every woman achieve her sense of harmony, balance and spirituality. Let us rise together!

I am moved by the natural world: earth, sky and sea, with all their beauty and mystery. I aim to promote the appreciation and conservation of our natural environment through painting, photography and other art forms. Sometimes the inspiration to recreate nature is effortless, like the miracle of light and shadow, a surprise spray of spring color, sparkle of waves or fog in the trees. Other times, I am on an intentional quest to capture the glory in a far corner of the earth.

Here I address the issue of aging of women in our society. I used granny dolls that looked like old witches whose bodies had been cut in half. The dolls were my evidence for how old women are stereotyped and viewed in our society. I was inspired by how the male Surrealists had used the middle-essential of the woman as signifier for the young woman. I took photographs of the granny dolls in different environments to show how powerful they are since they are all over the world.

Twenty-Five addresses the role of women as cultural agents. The hands allude at the woman’s origin, her cultural roots. Our mothers and grandmothers initiate us into the expectations and customs of our culture, providing the stories of family, community, and homeland. War, conquest, famine, and other life-changing events have forced ordinary women to migrate. Women go into the world carrying the fundamental aspects of their culture, from values and language to fashion and food. Throughout history, women have disseminated culture, gradually permeating places and societies, influencing and changing the people and places they encounter.

Beard’s patterns aren’t static, but deviate from their original just slightly. This creates movement within the work—a lyrical dance of repetition and variation. In language, repetition amplifies and intensifies the thought. The same occurs in Beard’s paintings, as the viewer takes in one similar shape after another, the pattern becomes insistent to its cause: design. In this body of work Stephanie Beard maintains a delicate balance between what is simply rhetorical and what is reasonably repeated.

Marie Bezjian. The Leader. 1994. Pen and ink on paper. 8 x 11 inches.

When I work with my paintings I express my feelings which I print on paper. When people see my work, they read the history through the painting. My painting The Leader shows the struggle of a nation.

In my work, I explore moments of personal introspection with regards to the bigger picture of the challenges we face collectively. I am interested in how we react and confront the obstacles that we face as women. In this piece I used two different news articles. One story talks about the brutalization of women in the Congo. The other is about a young female boxer, who grew up in the US, being violated by her own father. By juxtaposing these stories I aim to pose questions about the universality of violence against women, and how we end it.

In Status Questioned I used the World Briefing section of the New York Times, which takes life changing world events and summarizes them in one “brief” paragraph. With this piece, I aim to pose questions about how we create daily relevance of these events in our own lives. I’m interested in how we acknowledge the bigger picture of what is happening in the world without getting overwhelmed and shutting down. I want to explore how we, as women, connect across barriers and recognize the “humanness” of our experience.

Melody Brown paints the indelible bond between women portraying unity of togetherness through dance. Women hold the spirit of unity and ascension with light and love, and expresses visuals of past, present, and future events. She is a raw intuitive process painter including elements of energy, rhythm, and dance combined with color and imagery.

My work stirs up issues concerning the state of reproductive rights. I do not believe women’s rights should be dictated by faith. I do not hold religious ideals and find many faith based beliefs offensive and immoral. Our country was founded on freedoms and equalities which I do not see upheld and it is frightening. Let’s honor women’s rights by continuing the fight for equality and reproductive rights.

Bloomers were invented in 1850 by Elizabeth Miller, in reaction to the debilitating women’s fashions which caused so many serious health problems. Amelia Bloomer, editor of a feminist newspaper and rational dress advocate, saw bloomers as a way to improve the health and status of women. She wrote articles promoting the fashion, including patterns so women could sew their own. She always appeared in public wearing the outfit, which generated publicity and ridicule. Women today still suffer from cruel fashions. Is this progress?

I created the Fractured Glass Ceiling artwork in response to Hillary Clinton’s speech in which she suspended her campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination and referred to the Glass Ceiling stating, ‘it’s got about 18 million cracks in it’. Women are working painstakingly every day to break through. With each crashing reverberation we add more cracks until eventually the Glass Ceiling will fall.

My inspiration was the plight of women who, throughout the ages, have been forced by circumstances into a life of prostitution. A lovely young woman stands in an alley, a shadowed open doorway in the background. Contrasted with her glowing beauty is the griminess of the alley, of her profession, and the dark passage of her remembrances. She rests a tired foot on her vacated shoe. Behind her is a toy monkey a small, sinister harbinger of the uncertainty of her fate.

Discovering that many local young women had no exposure to women’s history or rights, I reflected on the women who had mentored me directly or by example including Judy Chicago, with her power tool classes and her focus on women’s core and women’s historical contributions. Honoring these women and creating gatherings in which women of all ages could mentor each other and discuss history and rights became the vision for my sculptural installation Ancestresses & Wise Women.

When one thinks of fiber art what comes to mind is ‘Women’s Work’. Rooted in feminism, this artwork looks at women and the issues and events that challenge their lives. In each piece, you will usually find a woman, and/or a word, phrase, or symbol that expresses a feeling about a particular experience, symbolic of the desire for women to always have their own voice. Private diary pages, these visual fragments are past and present empowering views that look at gender, strength, and social philosophy of women’s rights today.

Foosball relates women’s power and privilege to the amount of space they are allotted in the world. In this painting, women mindlessly protect their space but damage each other and themselves in the process.

To see the truth of where we are in our struggle for equality, we must first look to the marginalized segments of our population. What Part of All II, examines three social conditions for marginalized women: Violence, Prison and Poverty juxtaposing them each to the other and to the current state of the legislation impacting our still very long road to equality. Set against the backdrop of a US flag, this piece looks deeper at the faces and the underlying politics of women’s issues today.

So many times as a little girl, you experience moments of despair about how you look, what boys like about you, and how to satisfy everyone. You don’t always see yourself as a beautiful being because the imagery that defines beauty may not look like you, sound like you, or feel like you. What this piece comes down to is an actual respect for the feminine spirit, mind, and body; which will happen by challenging the stereotypes, demands, and injustices placed upon women.

I delight in welding nails. I feel a sense of empowerment as my work treads upon a traditionally male domain. My nails are renegades, joined only to each other by welding; their originally intended purpose shunned—no hammer, no wood. No longer constrained by the preconception of what a nail should do, these nails ascend freely, forming a lacelike, feminine structure. In their re-imagined role they symbolize the possibilities open to both women and men when we are able to re-imagine our gender roles.

I was afraid at first. I started with an angle grinder, then moved on to saws and sanders, and eventually found my way to the plasma cutter and welder. Now I know why they are called "power" tools and it’s not because you plug them in. With them I am powerful; I master wood, metal and stone. This power was once reserved for males; females were either discouraged or barred from taking shop classes. In this work masculine and feminine combine to express my hope for a future where strong female voices comprise half the dialogue.

Weddings are generally looked upon as marking the beginning of a new life; a traditional wedding dress is steeped in symbolism. The true icons in the lives of women who are subject to domestic abuse and "honor" killings present a stark contrast. From inequality and discrimination, to women beaten or killed for not fulfilling domestic "duties" or for wearing makeup. Worldwide, 1 in 3 women are victims of violence. Forever hold our peace? No!

Having grown up in an era when doors of opportunity were being opened for women everywhere, I never gave a second thought about my freedom of choice and a successful path in life. In the last decade, there has been a roar from conservatives and the religious right wing in the relentless obsession to control women’s bodies and deny equality. Reproductive freedom, women’s health, and the Fair Pay Act are again in jeopardy. We need to send a message. This painting is my response to recent attacks on women’s rights.

Like most American women I consumed vast amounts of pop culture imagery, and images of how to be female lay all around me. What did it mean to be a woman in the wake of the Women’s Movement? For me, there was a resulting ambivalence, towards femininity on one hand and feminism on the other. Aware of these contradictions, young women are conscious not only of inequality but of how our identities have been fragmented as a result of being female in America.

Calm, equanimity, compassion and grace are four points of honor in these sculptures of strong women; women revealed as emanations of Buddha.

The impetus of this work was based on the awareness of women’s plight in the Mideast; our mutual bonds as women; and, of course, our differences. Women in our global culture can be caught off balance, often isolated from nature and each other. However we have more in common than we think we remain sisters wherever we live, and hopefully we all have a home.

This image was taken in Beijing during the Fourth UN World Conference on Women. Women from over 180 countries came together to improve basic human rights of women globally. This experience was life-changing, creating a deep connection: a lasting sense of responsibility and collective empowerment. The personal was political. Seventeen years later we still struggle for the basic human right to control our own bodies and to keep them from harm. Until all women have this right, none of us are free.

We are Guerilla 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.

"The hair is the richest ornament of women" said Martin Luther and a women’s hair has been a key issue in religious control. Women’s hair has served as a signifier of class, gender, conformity or non-conformity, authority and power throughout history. With hair donated from 27 women, I am refuting religious teachings: that women are to be subservient to a husband or the men in their lives—the supposed rulers of women.

This artwork was inspired by the daily struggles for equality and rights women endure. Transcending the Barrier conveys the positive energy that women use to overcome the barriers of prejudice and sexism. My hope is that my art will serve as an inspiration to women to continue overcoming barriers as well as continuing to speak for women’s rights.

My work is about women embracing who they are, and their triumph over adversity by evolving through complications. Feminism is about allowing women the full range of human experience without barriers. By owning who I am with strength, and nurturing my multi-faceted self in my autobiographical narrative, I join my visual voice with other women artists to create a diverse reflection of the collective feminist vision.

My work is about women embracing who they are, and their triumph over adversity by evolving through complications. Feminism is about allowing women the full range of human experience without barriers. By owning who I am with strength, and nurturing my multi-faceted self in my autobiographical narrative, I join my visual voice with other women artists to create a diverse reflection of the collective feminist vision.

For ten years I have explored the global struggles and triumphs of Women’s Rights, resulting in the series Portraits: Beyond Boundaries. This series is a revelation that we are all connected; a mosaic of international portraits and a global tribute to women who have stepped outside their boundaries to courageously pursue their dreams and move forward the message of Women’s Rights.

Sisters in Spirit began with rubbings of tombstones and plaques honoring our founding mothers as new constellations inhabiting an ancient sky. In the continuum of history, places and ideas change, yet a tangible quality remains. My project knits together the past while engaging the present in seeking an elusive balance with permanence. Reflecting on Abigail’s prophetic words, Lydia’s brave ride, and Molly in the heat of battle, I see the seeds of the freedoms I enjoy today as an American woman and artist.

Like the tall, thin palm trees that punctuate the open vistas along California’s freeways, I imagined these as tall and sinuous women with big hair. From a distance, they seemed to converse with each other. As I passed them on my long commutes they became like girlfriends, sympathetic to the grind of my personal struggle. At some point I found myself reconstituting this imagining into portraits.

WHO ARE YOU TO BE BRILLIANT smacks hard at the core issue of women being hushed, or told to shut up, zip it and forget about it. Women have been assigned to the back row, back seat and second class. This image asks the question ‘Who are you to be brilliant?’, then answers, "I AM WOMAN. I count. I am smart. I have a lot to say!" I was motivated by Marianne Williamson’s poem and Nelson Mandela’s 1994 inaugural presidential address, as well as my own life circumstances.

In this work I have a prominent single female figure, an “archetype.” This single female image was inspired by my mother and my grandmother before her; women who, by circumstance, had to be strong and depended on themselves in a world run by men. The women in my works wear the veil to give them identity. The writing on the piece comes from letters Mom had written me from Iraq during the war in 1997. They are written in Arabic because we were not allowed to learn our mother tongue in Iraq.

My artwork relates to the continuing struggle women experience in a still male dominated art world. Into The Light shows woman coming from the darkness of non-recognition into equality. She exists in the center and then vanishes into obscurity again as the struggle for equality continues.

Joy Johnson. Patience-The Sisterhood. 2011. Wood and mixed media. 48 x 8 x 8 inches.

Patience-The Sisterhood symbolizes the strength a woman gathers from the love and support of the sisterhood.

In parallel with ‘art cars’, this is an ‘art purse’. It is shaped like a womb for all the world to see and has windows so interested parties can see what is inside. The windows represent various groups’ concerns: tax write-off, cannon fodder, fertility and the magic 8-ball that determines if a fetus is present. And yes, there is a removable fetus inside, or not that’s my business.

The juxtaposition created by placing various but distinct paintings next to each other creates a narrative of emotions for the viewer to follow and interpret. The relationships within the paintings display changing moods as they both starkly contrast each other, yet cohesively complement the piece in its entirety. Kahn finds that the emerging interactions between painterly fragments point to the significance of meaning found in between comparisons rather than in simply viewing a single painting.

The Constrained Bloom paintings examines stresses on women’s identity, creativity, lives. This painting grapples with the duality and complexity of experience as an artist and gives form to the tension that results from seeking personal expression while inhibited and bound by life’s constraints, and develops imagery for the perpetual fight with one’s own creative limitation while suggesting the overwhelming potential lying in wait. This work seeks form to express struggle and life’s fragility, contradictions and inscrutability.

Samurai Mama Goddessis part of a series of sculptures dedicated to women as Goddesses. All of them have wings, representing the freedom of flight in terms of ideas, choices and movement. All of them have breasts, representing sensuality and the ability to feed and nurture her offspring. As for the significance of the bird’s head, I still have to search my soul to find the real meaning. Samurai Mama Goddess represents the warrior, mother/animal ready to fly for her dreams and fight to protect her children and her beliefs. The author of the photograph of this piece is Sibila Savage.

Release is an installation about the physical and sexual abuse of women in our family. It’s about the releasing of these memories over a lifetime.

Lu Lee. The Mutants Environment. 2012. Intaglio and graphite. 22 x 19 inches.

With her energy depleted, she is asking, please just look. This second mono print is asking you just to look at her world. Her energy is depleted from the struggle to be noticed, and she is asking for your attention quietly and softly. Take note: If the apathy continues, the result will be withdrawal, and then nothing.

She is asking with all her energy to be seen. This mono print is my attempt for the viewer to get what it’s like to experience indifference and apathy as an artist and a woman. My medium of choice is printmaking. Not only is the printed line beautiful, the process results in multiples that can be used in a story line which isn’t stagnate, but moves from one image to the next with similarities.

Terri Lloyd. The Vessels Of Life Are Not Tools For The Destruction Of Societies. 2009. Archival print, 100% cotton rag, UV plexi, maple frame. 53 x 41 inches.

The vessels of life are not tools of destruction for societies. The image is an iconic propaganda statement illustrating the resistance of women against conquest political, religious, or based on gender.

Nalyne Lunati. Living with Endometriosis. 2012. Video installation. 4 min 6 sec.

I felt strongly that this piece needs to be a dance performance instead of a painting which is my usual media. The video you see is after I had a major 3 1/2 hours of surgery for Endometriosis. This video represents how endometriosis restricts my movement and weighs me down physically and emotionally.

I am interested in how society determines criminality, and how this perception shifts as society evolves. These mixed media paintings (consisting of pulverized charcoal and mica) are based on SFPD mug shots of women arrested for prostitution women whose jobs were seduction, while enduring dangerous fates. Working with these photos of female “criminals”, who had clearly been victims of physical assault themselves, began raising questions about situations in which the perceived “criminal” may, in fact, be the “victim”.

Discerning artists speak about humanity fluently, with great awe and reverence. By carefully studying the combination of unselfish generosities in the giving from experience of artists, a rich blend of lives converse. This work, Generosity, was formed as part of the artist's Virtues series (also including Fortitude, Patience and Forbearance). All of these Virtues are indeed important to artists—but I believe that in the end there are countless generosities made which form the soul of what it means to be an artist. This work is homage to those who have carried the heavy ethical responsibility of discourse, and unselfishly gave more of themselves than is required of the occupation alone.

I use the female tree figures in my art as symbolic figures for concepts, feelings, and ideas. I have always felt a great connection with trees and the female form. I have seen this image since I was a child and only through my art am I able to give these images life. Empty in Her Shadow is part of my ‘Learning to be a Phenomenal Woman’ series and was painted with Women’s Rights in mind.

Like an alchemist turning lead into gold, I transform this detritus into a story, a setting or a series of relationships. Many of my pieces reference the human or animal body, with stand-ins for the head, the body (or vessel) and feet/legs. My newest work is more sculptural and larger than previous works, while still examining issues that matter to me. Though trained in art, I work in a stream-of-consciousness manner allowing the meaning of each piece to unfold through my manipulation of each disparate part.

Since the 20th century, both World War I and WWII have demonstrated in Europe and in United states that women were essential to maintain economical activity. Both paintings, Minimum Wage and Monday Morning are a tribute to these women who, by their labor and courage, have shown that their contribution to society was as important as men’s. I wanted to express strength and determination.

From the purity of the white flower in her hair to the integrity shown plainly in her face, Rosa Parks embodied the brave spirit of courage in the African American struggle to defy laws that prevented true freedom. She confronted the fear of arrest or death with a calm grace that made her historical act of peaceful resistance a testament to the power of women.

Honoring Women’s Rights is associated with long fought privileges of citizenship. That is the visible fruit of the labor the roots of the effort tap deep into the very presence of women (and men) on the earth. In Buddhism, Tara is known as the ‘mother of liberation’ whose success in work often draws on compassion. We can do no less.

In El Salvador, I bore witness to women persevering in a country at war. Visiting the country in 1988 I was surprised to meet with many women, like the Mothers of the Disappeared, who held the hope described by Vaclav Havel, which does not predict that what you do will turn out well, but that what you are doing makes sense no matter how things turn out. They were curiously cheerful! I found also that women and children suffer terribly in any war. As a member of a peace church, I redoubled my personal efforts to oppose wars.

Melissa Nelson. The Understatement: Boys Will Be Boys But Girls Will Be Women. 2010. Clay, acrylic. 9.75 x 10 x 10 inches.

The Understatement: Boys will be boys, but girls will be women’ is a testament piece to the female trajectory. Beyond the truth and humor, there remains the fact that we are bound together by our sameness and the struggles that lie therein, regardless of what separates, defines or distinguishes us from one another.

Janice Nesser. not made in her mother’s image. 2009. Plastic baby dolls, clothing patterns, embroidery thread, fabric pattern on canvas, gel medium. 16 x 16 inches.

My series From the blood of my grandmother melds quilting and embroidery with dress patterns, altered books, photographs and found objects in an investigation of familial relationships, cultural taboos and their place in the formation of identity.

I use sculpture to investigate the impact that shifting cultural pressures have on the lives of women. This work speaks to excess and longing. Past the time when we were galvanized to beat the recession and the time when we were divided by "Occupy", stuck in the sameness of strife and waiting, don’t we all just want a little indulgence? Today there are cupcakes everywhere, rising in defiance of continually failing personal economies, as if for each of us there is always going to be MORE.

I use sculpture to investigate and represent cultural shifts, and I inquire into the impact that social transitions and shifting cultural pressures have on the lives of a growing number of women. This work is part of a series that delves into contemporary social issues and is inspired by objects and icons of everyday domestic life. Waste or want? What could a bag of lemons do to help the hungry? Does the gesture do more for the giver or receiver?

These sculptures are rooted in the context of the human figure, as I find this to be an endless resource of inspiration and expression. My figurative sculptures involve socio-political, spiritual and personal themes. The expressionist style of my work is used to present various physiological states of mind and spirit. It is through the relationship of reality and imagination that these works come into being. Aspects of humanity are interpreted in varied states of consciousness.

This work is composed to call attention to ongoing physical and mental abuse towards women in our society. The subject is not a popular one, ignored by mass media for more entertaining stories and continues to cast women in a powerless mode, hampering any real progress towards their rights. In order to be equal in society, women must first be freed from their role as victim. Giving faces to these hidden women is to help expose domestic abuse, bring it to the forefront for change.

This work is composed to call attention to ongoing physical and mental abuse towards women in our society. The subject is not a popular one, ignored by mass media for more entertaining stories and continues to cast women in a powerless mode, hampering any real progress towards their rights. In order to be equal in society, women must first be freed from their role as victim. Giving faces to these hidden women is to help expose domestic abuse, bring it to the forefront for change.

In my wildest dreams this artwork would wake up the twenty and thirty-somethings about the lack of equal opportunity for women. Composed in one session, the partial list of women’s rights imposed on this acrylic work on canvas spans the spectrum of feminine/human interests and concerns. We all have the right to make and live by our own list. Pass the Equal Rights Amendment!

My art chronicles my adventures in the wilderness and through life. I use embroidery to communicate provocative environmental and social issues. I present quantitative information in an unusual combination of stitched text and graphics. The work provides a novel opportunity to consider the scientific and historic context inherent in current events and social questions.

Roxanne Phillips. Boundaries II. 2007. Etching, pen. 12 x 38 inches.

In my life I have learned to know the difference between what you really want and what you need. Boundary II represents the idealized picket fence (want) with the word ‘happiness’ (need) repeatedly written over it.

As a traditional Armenian woman she lived a life of servitude and dedication to her family. Her overworked hands served mainly others. The painting celebrates a period in her life when, as a widow hence less burdened she could freely smile and pose with her hands firmly on herself. Seen in the background is a portrait of her deceased beloved husband former master who, by the weight of tradition, was the focus of her life. She alone is now the focus. Her hands serve no master. Women’s rights start at home.

Warnings to my daughters: If you ever need to take hormone pills, you may be called names. You can be whatever you want to be, but you may not get paid as much as men who do the same thing. If you live overseas like your grandfather and father did, you may need to bring a black body covering for the desert sun (and you might not be allowed to drive to the store to get one once you are there). If you have children, be careful of what doctor you go to, and never let them tell you that your milk is poison.

Art for me is the venue to express my feelings of happiness, love, grief and anger—things that I feel on a daily basis. My art has allowed me to have a more powerful voice in the world and certainly be heard as a woman.

My images depict women who speak out about freedom and human rights, and represent female voices that cannot be silenced. On International Women’s Day, women demonstrating for equal rights in the workplace hung banners across the Statue’s facade. Aung San Suu Kyi, one of the world’s most prominent political prisoners and winner of the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her commitment to nonviolent change in Burma, spent 15 out of 22 years locked under house arrest. She was released in 2010 and in 2012 was elected to the Parliament.

My grandmother made wedding gowns for a living and I used to play with her scrap bag as a little girl. I was intrigued by the way the satin gathered in and poufed out. In my drawings, the folds in the fabric of the skirt’s bustle are a metaphor of the flaps and crevices of my psychological landscape that reveal and conceal. Growing up in a dysfunctional family where the truth was denied, I had to find a way to express my real thoughts somehow.

A symbolic portrait of Nina Simone, showing both power and turbulence within the iconic jazz singer, whose music created a wrenching cry for the disenfranchised in our society but whose bi-polar disorder caused volatile outbursts, marring her own life. During the Civil Rights Era, Simone’s lyrics furthered the revolutionary movement by confronting the darkest of topics including lynching, murder, and racial stereotype in order to break through established patterns of behavior as a means of fostering social and political change.

Ancient mother, fertile goddess, magical totem of abundance—at what moment did you lose your voice? When was your power stripped from your form? Potent milkmaid, how did the promise of your endless breasts manage to run dry? Your memory has been lost and found; lost and found; lost and found, but all too often lost again. Ancient hands help us to recall, to invoke your forgotten name, and bring us together again in order to reclaim our collective strength.

Because I have a mixed heritage (Spanish and Anglo) the search for identity has driven much of my work. What I could always count on was being female and an artist. Self Portrait With Blue Eyed Doll represents the blonde, blue eyed ideal I struggled against, to assimilate and individuate.

My paintings explore both the regulation and victimization of women that persists due to religious dogma and patriarchal control as well as the successes that have and can still be achieved by women. Each painting begins as a theatrical still life arrangement and becomes a powerful social statement. Dolls are the most important symbolic element in my work because dolls are both familiar and powerful icons that represent very specific ideas. Through my work I hope to create awareness and to open dialogue for change.

Rose Sellery. The Lost Math Years. 2006. Wood, digital print, fabric, acrylic medium, math book pages. 48 x 18 x 15 inches.

This child-size paper doll represents the assertion that “girls can’t do math.” Studies have explored the reasons young girls, who previously excelled in math and science, turn away from these subjects predominantly around the age of puberty. The move away from these fields of study is overwhelmingly based on sociological issues.

Based on the remembrance of the weighted, inflatable punching bags that when struck bounced back for more. A dress, demure and resilient, depicts the continued plight of a woman tyrannized by a man’s fists. Her misplaced apologies mingle with his, and his promise to never do it again.

In Mary’s Power I depict my grandmother, who supported her family by ironing clothes. The sharpened dowels depict her strength and her prickliness. I honor the women who do physically demanding domesticated labor without much recognition. My art represents the everyday female that does what she needs to support her children and the challenges she faces.

I seek to create work whose presence offers the viewer a type of empathy, one found within the comforting recognition of a shared experience. Using both nature and culture, I explore the power of unspoken thoughts and emotions. In Slow Goin’, a wry self-portrait, I stand in for ‘Anywoman’ as she searches for the source of her empowerment. Slow Goin’ speaks to the patience required for all worthy endeavors, as well as a gentle, humorous reminder to myself to allow my development as an artist to unfold in its own time.

We are all confronted on a daily basis with the fragmentation of our non-linear lives trying, as in a puzzle, to make all the pieces fit together to make sense of it all. The multi-dimensionality and multi-layering of my work reference what one must uncover to penetrate the illusions of reality and reach the mystery and essence of the soul. Through my concern for women’s harmony, balance, order and spirituality I hope we can achieve and honor all women’s rights.

We are thankful that a movement has started bringing awareness of this social injustice to the world’s attention! What will you do? I hope ask questions about this atrocity happening to women in our country. Women are being raped because they are immigrants working in our fields, these women are fearful to come forward afraid of being deported, they are outraged that this is how business is conducted in the United States of America. Show them we do not stand for social injustice against women! Get involved in the Bandana Project.

In the body of work, Daily Strength, the artist wishes to pay homage to the often underestimated Power and Strength of the everyday things women carry and bear, while exploring the internal and external idea of Woman Powerful defining issues of undefined identity. Sowell-Zak’s work reflects her fascination in the meaning that resides in the unspoken language of the body, as a universal understanding between people, which connects them beyond life.

My inspiration began on the 8th of March, 2011, when a demonstration commemorating International Women’s Day in Cairo’s Tahir Square turned ugly. Watching the women in the streets, defiant , against all odds and fearless in the face of a paternalistic society that heretofore had denied them even their voice, touched something deep inside of me and I began to paint what has become a body of work called Let Our Voices Emerge. This is the first painting, We R 1, in that series.

I am a woman living in the 21st century and much of my privilege comes from the work of women before me. I recognize that we have come a long way in actualizing women’s rights, though there is still a lot that I am left wanting. The internal struggle I feel between becoming who I am and being who I should be is enormous and confusing. Through my work I am examining the internal struggles and darkness I face as I continue to find my place in the world; one where I can accept who I am and leave behind everything else.

This image speaks to the fact that forces outside of ourselves want to control and enslave our bodies. The result is women living their lives as an automaton instead of their true selves, or as someone else’s opinion of what is right for their body.

True Beauty arose out of sincere desire to know and be closer to inspiring women. For me this means women who have stepped forward and lived boldly as themselves, and/or advocated for themselves or the safety and well being of others. This work portrays women confronting the viewer, in the act of advocating and/or protesting offenses. It defies the traditional portrait gaze by idolizing the actions or deeds of women instead of their bodies, creating images of beauty based on character and commitment.

Slow Journey is about the struggle for equal rights from the beginning of the women’s suffrage movement through current-day politics. Scenes from past demonstrations are displayed on the wagon.

Honoring Women’s Rights speaks to a state of awareness beyond the postmodern preoccupation with the transcendent, where the most ordinary experiences can be elevated and viewed as extraordinary. In women’s lives, the banal can be juxtaposed with concepts, which are more often appropriated to the realm of the sublime. The concept of honor can create a substantive counterpoint directed toward a humanistic truth, and awareness of the social, cultural, economic and political context in which honor exists.

I was immediately struck by the calm, comfort and intimacy of the friendship between the two women. I wondered about their thoughts on this journey a ceremony to witness and relive ancestral memories as one looked inward, and the other looked ahead. Then my aesthetic eye kicked in, to revel in the textures and semblance of the chiaroscuro of the moment: a balance of black and white, set against the hues of swirling grey, cloudy skies, and deep turbulent waters.

Cristina Velazquez. Women Must Bear Children, Women Must Clean The House, and Women Must Cook. 2009. Mixed media. 48 x 24 x 3, 64 x 26, 52 x 29 x 5 inches.

Everything is a must for women. I must accomplish many chores in my life that benefit other people. These responsibilities I wear like aprons over my dress. A dress for every occasion in my life, each represents a task or an attitude I must posses. In this collection I exposed all different roles I must be successful at as a woman: I must bear children, I must clean the house, I must cook, I must be beautiful, I must keep good hygiene, I must have the right measurements, I must be a saint, I must be a healer, I must be.

This concrete pair of women have each had a strong impact in their families for nearly one century. Their lives and tribulations have been marked by both struggle and joy. At times, they have meant no more than a number, all the while taking our heritage back to the very first matriarchal goddesses. They are, above all, a solid reminder of the ease with which power can be lost and regained in a myriad of ways and, ultimately, never far from home.

With the steadily growing awareness of how dis-connected we are from our planet, more images of the feminine and the divine feminine surface. It fascinates me to watch and respond to this re-weaving of culture through my paintings. My work in the world is about shifting people’s perspective and healing our connection to our creativity and our planet. My intention is to create containers for opportunity moving women back into their powerful role as culture creators.

I have always been intrigued with consumerism and its effect on the definition of beauty. While the woman in this piece posed nude, I have merged elements—the nude traditional African woman with the Western dress wrap (a possibility now with encroaching consumerism)—the absurdity or sensibility of which is ultimately up to the viewer.

The Power Apron was born as a tribute to terrific friend, philanthropist, wife, mother, and feminist Jacki Zehner. A picture on Facebook, a hint that her friend "Gloria" should have one as well, and a limited edition of the aprons became part of Ms. Magazine’s 40th anniversary celebration. The Power Apron is my expression of gratitude for these women.

There is a segment of history within this country that is rich with strength, tenacity, and perseverance— actions that created a social revolution and changes that we continue to enjoy today. Freedom is a tribute to Rosa Parks. With passion and a firm belief that change was not only possible, but necessary, she served as a symbolic agent of change for generations to come. One person can also serve as a positive symbol to effect social change. A woman keeps her seat on the bus and a social revolution is born.

Reformed Whores (Katy Frame and Marie Cecile Anderson). I’m a Slut. 2012. Video. 3:47 minutes .*

We have been quite irritated by the trend in certain media outlets to distort and exaggerate news events as demonstrated by Rush Limbaugh’s nasty attack on Sandra Fluke. The notion that someone who was just voicing her opinion on why birth control should be covered in a student insurance plan would be called a slut was beyond us. We figured if a well educated, well spoken young woman who stands up for a woman’s right to adequate health care was a slut, then lord knows that would make us one too. Might as well spread the word.

I have been focused on two main themes. One focuses on internal grief and the other on finding beauty. The internal considers gender and race related traumas. The second part, finding beauty, is a gathering process that heals the soul and brings splendor where it has been lost. The Faces are all portraits of myself. Each image is a small element in a longer personal narrative.

Flo Wong. My Mother’s Baggage. 1996. 6 suitcases, photos, text. variable.*

This suitcase assemblage reflects the impact of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Law, which forbade the entry of Chinese laborers wives and children, on Gee Suey Ting, the mother of artist Flo Oy Wong. When immigrating in 1933 as her husband’s sister, known as a paper sister, Gee claimed their daughters as nieces. She later entered into a fake marriage with a US citizen so that her American-born children could be legal. Wong is the offspring of her parents but carries the surname of her fake father.

Flo Wong. My Sister: Li Hong. 2008. Manniquin, coh rice sacks, sequins, beads, twigs, audio. variable.*

Flo Wong’s older developmentally challenged sister was married to an able-bodied/sound-mind man. This piece is about her marriage.

These threads that are sewn on my painting connect the past to the present and stand as a metaphor of the recognition of those women who paved the way before us and of those who will follow.

That which was once soft and pliable is now hard and sharp, unyielding. Once it was so very soft and smooth next to warm skin, but now is cold and unfamiliar; a thick layer like a carapace, offering inexplicable protection. It is a shield, impenetrable armor to wear out in the world.