Copyright 2018 by Gutfreund Cornett Art. The book author and each artist here retains sole copyright to their contributions to this book. This catalog is documentation of RISE: Empower, Change and Action!, an exhibition created by Gutfreund Cornett Art, www.GutfreundCornettArt.com, and shown at The Whitney Modern Gallery, Los Gatos, CA, July 18 to August 31, 2018. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without prior permission in writing from Gutfreund Cornett Art.
Catalog designed and edited by Gutfreund Cornett Art
Cover Design by: Rozanne Hermelyn, Arc and Line Communication and Design. www.arcandline.com
As an independent curatorial partnership, Gutfreund Cornett Art specializes in creating exhibitions on themes of “art as activism” to stimulate dialog, raise consciousness and encourage social change. With backgrounds in national and international projects, advocacy, non-profits, government, corporate art and a successful history in DIY Blockbuster shows on feminist issues, Gutfreund and Cornett have combined these skills to provide unique opportunities for artists, communities and relevant non-profit collaborators to come together around social and environmental themes.
Exhibitions to date include: Visaural: Sight, Sound and Action (2015, Nave Gallery, Sommerville, Massachusetts) asked artists to combine activist-themed visual art and QR Code-accessible songs in tandem with the Honk! Festival of Activist Street Bands. With What’s Right, What’s Left: Democracy in America (2016, Phoenix Gallery, NYC), artists looked at the tenets of democracy, the increasing polarization of our culture, freedom, privacy, civil rights, incarceration and intolerance. Teaming up with UniteWomen.org, Gutfreund Cornett Art created Vision: An Artist’s Perspective (2016, Kaleid Gallery, San Jose, California), which brought self-identified female artists into dialogue around solidarity, individuality, and a belief in political, economic and social equality for all. Social Justice: It Happens to One, It Happens to All (2016, Saint Mary’s College Museum of Art, Morago, California) illuminated the ongoing conversation about race, disparities in global wealth, power, education, shelter, access to food, immigration issues, criminal injustice, women’s right and identity. Beyond Borders: Stories of im/Migration (2018, Santa Clara University, Dowd Art Gallery, Santa Clara, California) shed light on the personal and observed narratives surrounding the struggles of flight, immigration, assimilation, deportation, and the perception of being “other” in American society.
Karen Gutfreund Sherri Cornettwww.GutfreundCornettArt.com
Since our opening almost two years ago, Whitney Modern has become Silicon Valley's Contemporary Fine Art Gallery, fulfilling the need for high quality fine art in the South Bay. We are committed to engaging the community through the creative experience by showcasing thought provoking, collectible works of art from internationally recognized, mid-career and emerging contemporary fine artists. Collectors, art enthusiasts and the community have embraced Whitney Modern as a place for inspiration, conversation and discovery.
Through our robust exhibition schedule we aim to bring the Silicon Valley to the forefront of the contemporary art scene and instigate a creative response from the most analytically minded, technologically driven slice of the world. At the same time we feel that it is important to bring art into our community and make it accessible both from a location standpoint, and by offering a gallery environment that invites people to relax and come as you are with the freedom to bring questions, ideas and friends.
In our current exhibition, RISE: Empower, Change, Action!, the Whitney Modern will inspire our community by serving as a platform to highlight important subjects through art. This open juried show features selected works that speak for equality, independence and human rights, while offering insight, healing and transformation. We are excited personally and professionally to collaborate with Gutfreund Cornett Art on this exhibition to give voice and vision to women’s empowerment at this vital point in history.
Suzanne Whitney-Smedt Owner/Director Whitney Modern Gallery
RISE: Empower, Change and Action!
The exhibition RISE: Empower, Change and Action! brings artists and the community into dialogue through art that reflects and addresses complex socio-cultural issues. The chosen works focus on a vision for a more positive, empowering future, particularly for self-identified women and girls as well as their families. It is underpinned by the feminist principle that believes in political, economic and social equality for all.
Manifestations of empowerment included gender equality, economic independence, education, reproductive rights, human rights, freedom of expression, and breaking gender and race stereotypes. Works ranged from literal to poetic, abstract to representational, and included social and political commentary, and the search for beauty and transcendence. They are sources of healing, hope and compassion and instruments of growth, self-discovery.
RISE aims to emphasize the commonalities of our human experience.
Art can be a powerful, productive force and instrumental in sparking change or critical thinking. Through this exhibition, we are committed to promoting and supporting local, national, and global art activism and bring to light issues and concerns, art can effect change.
ABOUT THE CURATORS
Gutfreund Cornett Art is an independent curatorial partnership between Karen Gutfreund and Sherri Cornett which specializes in creating exhibitions on themes of art as activism to stimulate dialog, raise consciousness, encourage social change. Past exhibitions have focused on democracy, social justice, feminism and immigration issues. www.GutfreundCornettArt.com
Marianne McGrath is Curator of Art at New Museum Los Gatos (NUMU). Her passion for art and art education motivates her work as a curator, consultant and art advisor. Prior to her position at NUMU, she served as Education Curator and Associate Art Curator at The Museums of Los Gatos. Her professional experience includes work as an independent curator, art historian, teacher and designer. Ms. McGrath has a Bachelor Degree in Art and holds a Master of Arts in Art History.
Suzanne Whitney-Smedt is owner/director of Whitney Modern Gallery. She is past Vice President of the Whitney Foundation, which helps fund and supplement those educational, health and housing projects that bring about positive changes in peoples’ lives. www.whitneymodern.com
Beyond Hegemony
by Sherri Cornett“Two things have always ruptured up and through hegemony: art and bodies. That is how art has preserved its toehold in our universe. Where there was poverty, there was also a painting someone stared at until it filled them with tears. Where there was genocide, there was a song that refused to be quiet. Where a planet was forsaken, there was someone telling a story with their last breath.”
― Lidia Yuknavitch, The Book of Joan: A Novel iI admit to a fascination with word play, linguistics, and derivations and that the upswelling of termininology that is aimed at moving us beyond our past—as with post-colonialism, post-capitalism, post-feminism, postmodernism, post-identity, post-heteronormativity—sends me down lengthy rabbit holes of investigation. While I do believe such exercises can expand one’s understanding, the most powerful and empowering actions and interactions come when we take the “Think Globally, Act Locally” motto to the intimate scale sharing our personal stories and our art and in face-to-face communication.
We have seen this over and over in our Gutfreund Cornett Art projects. These are always a weaving of the art (which brings visitors closer), the statements (which add layers to the visual messages), and the communication (whether spontaneous or within the structure of our community programming). We empower by taking a “relational approach” in creating such “exhibitions-as-polylogue”...terms Maura Reilly discusses in her book Curatorial Activism: Towards an Ethics of Curating. “A relational approach highlights cultural differences by presenting a collection of voices, as [Chandra Talpade] Mohanty suggests, [to] ‘tell alternate stories of difference, culture, power and agency’.”ii
Though RISE: Empower, Change and Action! is based on the feminist principle of social, economic, and political equality for all, this exhibition is not a Women Artists-only show. Our artists, some selfidentified as male, look at the polysemic nature of feminisms, through lenses of race, gender, nationality, and spirituality and how these perspectives provide insight, encouragement, and solutions, beyond the prevalent hegemony or dominance of one social group over another.
The works of the international artists in our Beyond Borders: Stories of im/Migration, which exhibited at Santa Clara University in 2018, shared personal and observed narratives surrounding the struggles of flight, immigration, assimilation and deportation and acknowledged the dignity, dreams and sacrifices of those facing these challenges and fears.iii In our Social Justice: It Happens to One, It Happen to All, artworks and a community conversation with seventeen of the artists brought forth sincere, difficult and heart-breaking dialogue about race, power, education, prisons, shelter, safe food and water, criminal injustice, women’s rights and gender identity.iv
It is our ethical responsibility to seek fresh answers about how to best support those experiencing injustice.
injustice. We frequently change how we look at our curatorial work, our methods and the language we use and, more recently, how we publicly identify ourselves. “As the feminist critic and philosopher Gaytri Spivak constantly reminds us, we must always acknowledge not only who we are, but where we are, that is where we are positioned in relation to hierarchies, and to question of authority and privilege.”v To that end...the four curators of RISE are white, cis women, three of whom are based in California. I live in Montana and am of German heritage. My focus on advocacy and community building are underscored by my degrees in political science and art and by my genuine pleasure in hearing people’s stories. More recently I have aimed to be more aware of decentering my own perspectives, to listen more and to be more open to those who generously point out my ignorance.
A Northern Cheyenne and artist friend, Bently Spang, suggested I read John Brown Child’s book Transcommunality: From the Politics of Conversion to the Ethics of Respect as a way to learn more about collaborating with indigenous people. Childs uses his own heritage as Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy or People of the Longhouse) as his base of reference. To lessen hostilities between the five nations living around, in what is now known as, the upper New York area, each nation of the Haudenosaunee came together to develop coalitions, to learn how to become connected in respectful dialogue about justice, between sometimes conflicting ways of thinking, and without losing each nation’s autonomy. The Haudenosaunee invited refugees from other indigenous nations, who fled colonial invasions, into their Longhouse. More than an act of tolerance, they welcomed the different outlooks that were then enfolded into and enriched the larger community. This 16th century example is relevant guidance for us today and provides us another framework within which to dismantle white dominance. Childs calls this process of “constructive and developmental interaction among distinct autonomy-oriented communities and organizations” transcommunality.vi
Childs’ writing also helped me further understand the indigenous belief integral to navigating the world and relationships that there is little separation between people, land, spirit and nation. Several of our RISE artists reference this connection. For her works titled Makumegawiktoogwaal (Towards The Earth) #1 and #2, Carolyn Doucette states: “We have a saying in Mi’kmaw, “Msit No’kmaq,” which means, ‘All My Relations.’ Everything is connected and has a spirit, even the plants, rocks and water; therefore, everything of the Earth is a part of us.” Marisa Goven’s work alludes to the Andean Ñust'as or earth keepers who assist people in forming connections between each other, the sacred feminine and Pachamama or Mother Earth. As with her Jaunting for Restitution, Gina Herrera’s sculptures comes from a combination of her Tesuque Pueblo and Costa Rican heritage and her rapport with nature. vii
Activist artists ask viewers to question their existing beliefs, to consider previously unknown and perhaps initially uncomfortable perspectives. In our curatorial work, this becomes, as Childs would say, a transcommunal layering of the artists’ distinct backgrounds, identities, their choices of themes and media, and those experiencing the art—all within a mutually respectful, dialogical space. The artist statements in RISE: Empower, Change, Act! provide starting points for conversations about identifying as a woman of color, viewing the other as oneself, vulnerability as critical to personal and societal change, gender based violence on campus, children fighting for sensible gun laws, the defiance of the Women’s March, finding points of agreement, more complete expression as human beings, education, strength, courage, curiosity, and more. We take action when we choose to be open to and incorporate this multiplicity of information, identities, viewpoints, and stories into our Weltanschauung so that they influence and support our responses to injustice and efforts toward equality.
For more information about curatorial activism and its history, I encourage you to look up, on Vimeo, Dr. Maura Reilly’s lecture and conversation with Linda Nochlin at the University of Sydney’s Curating Feminism conference in 2014 and read their publications: Curatorial Activism: Towards an Ethics of Curating by Maura Reilly and “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” by Linda Nochlin, published in ArtNews in 1971.viii
i Lidia Yuknavitch, The Book of Joan: A Novel (New York: Harper, 2017), Kindle edition, 97.
ii Maura Reilly, Curatorial Activism: Towards an Ethics of Curating), (New York: Thames & Hudson, 2018), 29- 33.
iii Gutfreund Cornett Art, “Beyond Borders: Stories of im/Migration.” GutfreundCornettArt.com. https:// www.gutfreundcornettart.com/info-beyond-borders.html (accessed June 16, 2018)
iv Gutfreund Cornett Art, “Social Justice: It Happens to One, It Happens to All.” GutfreundCornettArt.com. https:// www.gutfreundcornettart.com/info-social-justice.html (accessed June 16, 2018).
v Reilly, 215. vi John Brown Childs, and Guillermo Delgado-P., Arif Dirlik, Stefano Varese, Renate Holub, Jeremy Brecher, Hayden White, Andrea Smith, David Welchman Gegeo, Herman Gray, Sofía Quintero, John D. Brewer, and Bettina Aptheker.
Transcommunality: From The Politics Of Conversion. (Philadelphia:Temple University Press, 2003). 10.
vii Gutfreund Cornett Art, “RISE: Empower, Change, Action!” GutfreundCornettArt.com. https:// www.gutfreundcornettart.com/gallery-rise.html. (accessed June 16, 2018).
viii Linda Nochlin, “From 1971: Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” ArtNews.com http:// www.artnews.com/2015/05/30/why-have-there-been-no-great-women-artists/ (accessed June 16, 2018).
Sunny Came Home…
By Karen Gutfreund“Sunny came home to her favorite room
Sunny sat down in the kitchen
She opened a book and a box of tools
Sunny came home with a mission”
—Shawn ColvinArt, creative expression and muses don’t always make clear linear sense. They shouldn’t and in that you can find great, nuanced beauty. The song “Sunny Came Home” has been fixated in my mind as I worked on this exhibition and has always been an inspiration. It is about a woman named Sunny who burns her house down to escape her past. To me, it exemplifies the strength and resilience of women, and the lengths they will go to in order to effect change. With RISE: Empower, Change and Action we asked for work in all media that reflect and addresses complex socio-cultural issues.
Creating exhibitions on themes of social justice and feminism has been my passion for over a decade. This is about my 30th exhibition I’ve worked on...I’ve lost count. And I have a number of shows that I’m working on the culture of violence in the USA, and the demise of the American Dream who it still stands for when so many people are considered “other”. With RISE, I was awestruck by the poignant, strong, beautiful work that submitted for consideration. The hardest job of the curator is the task of making the final choices of what will go into the gallery. With the number of impressive works that spoke to the theme, and in order to honor these artists, we added additional works that would be shown in the gallery on a monitor in a continuous, looping slideshow and of course, have their work online and in this catalog.
Polarized, political times call for political, activist art. We need this now more than ever. From the Women’s March held in Washington D.C., and around the world the day after the inauguration of #45, and subsequent marches/protests, have shown that women's voices will not be silenced. “She was warned. She was given an explanation. Nevertheless, she persisted.” The patriarchy is desperately trying to hold their ground in an effort to keep the power structure of the dominance of the white male in place. Grab a megaphone, grab a pen, or grab a paintbrush and raise your voice! Artists have heard the call to speak up against injustice, violence and oppression. RISE: Empower, Change and Action! and many other similar exhibitions around the country reflect this important cultural moment with art that states enough is enough, and it’s time for a change. This is in line with the #MeToo and “Time’s Up” movement; and quoting from their website: “The clock has run out on sexual assault, harassment, and inequality in the workplace. It's time to do something about it.” Yes, it is.
And talking about inequality, let’s not even get started on the under-representation of women, people
of color and LGBTQ in the artworld. That will be saved for another essay, another day, but is one of the reasons we create exhibitions such as RISE to give women artists exhibition opportunities.
But if we want to create a more just world, we must first solve issues of inequality. These power imbalances with systemic inequality and a systemic pattern of exclusion for women, for people of color, and a lack of equilibrium in the power and equality distribution in society are the root of the problems facing the disenfranchised. This is why the focus of the work chosen for this exhibition spoke not only to the issues but to resolutions and ways to solve the problems in a positive way.
Nadia Bolz-Weber, Founding Pastor for the House for All Sinners and Saints is calling the #MeToo movement the “apocalypse”—but in a good way. “Apocalyptical works were meant to proclaim a big, hope filled idea. Dominant powers are not ultimate powers. Empires fall, tyrant fade, systems die, God is still around. In Greek, the word apocalyptical means to uncover, to peel away, to show what’s underneath. That is what this country has been experiencing in recent months...The #MeToo and Time’s UP movements are simply exposing what was already there. The male domination at the center of the issues is being revealed apocalyptically and in prime time. “Wokeness” and policy change are a start but not enough to dig out the full infection. We need to see how deep the heresy of domination runs and then remind one another that dominant powers are not ultimate powers. So if those that came before look to the bible to justify their dominance then let’s look to it to justify our dignity.”
Strength and dignity is portrayed in Tani, Survivor Love Letter, by Chloe Allred. This piece, from a series, is a visual response to surviving assault with text that is a love letter to herself. If it happened to me, I’m afraid I might be silenced by shame and victim’s guilt. I greatly admire her courage and bravery. Todas Trabajamos, Hasta Las Ninas by Mague Calanche and Mother Courage by Cathy Weaver, show the plight of undervalued and unappreciated mothers who sacrifice everything for their children with dignity as champions of survival rather than victimhood as they persist and endure.
Taking charge and creating change are demonstrated in Sally Edelstein, Women’s Lib-A Storms Approaching, and Sarupa Sidaarth, Shh. Yes, we have first amendment rights but so often women’s voices are silenced, not heard or spoken over. I think that is going to change in the mid-term elections and in the future. Woman have taken the microphone and will not back down. Beth Lakamp, she told them so, says “The women in my paintings have something to say and the timing is just right. There is a rare incredible confluence of audience and spirit. Egos fall silent as spirits rise in unanimity. She leads in this moment, fittingly. Progress unfolds as great ideas are given life. Listen or else.”
The power of conviction for women’s rights and equality for race, gender, religion and sexual orientation is loud and clear with Irene Carvajal’s Future Gains: the dollar is rising and Indira Cesarine with her neon light sculpture, Equal Means Equal. Cesarine says this work “emphasizes the importance of equal rights for all humans, regardless of gender, which should be guaranteed in our constitution. ....
Enough is enough. It is time for discrimination and the abuse of power to end. I see this work and symbol it displays as a powerful beacon of hope, lighting a path for the future of equality.” But if equal is supposed to mean equal, why do women still make $.79 on the dollar that white males make, and women of color are even lower with $.63 for black women and $.54 for Hispanic women? Carvajal’s response with her work is “Equality benefits everyone. If value could be blind to race, gender, religion and sexual orientation our whole society would benefit...A future in the hands of young people who reject old labels and are full of passion, strength and desire to make this a world where we are all valued equally. The bills are installed inside a plexiglass container with a constant fan. The dollar rises when we all work together, so does the (e)quality of life.” Rising tides lift all boats.
Who would have thought that hashtags or a pink knitted hat would start such a revolution? The #MeToo, #TimesUp and “pussyhats” gave voice and wings to a movement that once started, could not be stopped. The women in Vanessa Filley portraits, #MeToo, Minerva Looking, Assata Toward, Gabriela The Future, are not victims. In their steely, direct gaze, you will see that this will not happen again on their watch. Marie Cameron says of her painting, In the Pink, “Who would have guessed that pink knitwear could be the symbol of protest, resistance and empowerment? How perfect though, all those little stitches coming together to create something bigger than themselves, crafted with love, largely by women, for women, speaking volumes about who we are, and how we will be heard.”
It’s time for recognition for women leaders, who I am hopeful will make America the land of true equality for all. Priscilla Otani, Political Action Group and Rozanne Hermelyn Di Silvestro, In a Constant State of Rising and Falling both created powerful mixed media works honoring these women leaders both in politics and business. Rozanne is hopeful, saying “The Forbes 100 most powerful women list presented in my pieces is proof that women can rise and break through the intangible glass ceiling, overcome barriers and obtain positions they are well qualified for.” Otani has a more cautionary tale with her work, “The braille book format punctuates the danger of turning a blind eye to politics and allowing extremists to move our nation in the wrong direction. The women painted on these pages are current and future politicians.” We need more female politicians to take over and talk over the primarily white male system. Again with the battle cry “Nevertheless, She Persisted”, I am confident that things are going to change, the future is female, and we will not go quietly into the good night.
Although 18 months in the making, this exhibition is very timely. Sherri Cornett and I were so pleased to partner with Suzanne Whitney-Smedt, Marianne McGrath, our guest jurors and of course, the wonderful, gifted artists. In closing, I am filled with gratitude for the powerful and empowering voices of this group. Collectively, as a society we need to understand the interconnectedness of humanity— we are one race, the human race. We send a call out to embrace empowerment over traditional male systems of dominant power, where all people regardless of race, religion, gender or class will benefit and rise! RISE: Empower, Change and Action! is a reflection of women's voices around the world that demonstrates true feminist power, and that it is most definitely, here to stay.
Special Award Winner
Anitra FrazierI Think It’s Going to Rain Today
Chosen by Jessica Porter, Arts Business Strategist, Manager and Advisor, New York, NYSTATEMENT: I Think It’s Going to Rain Today is an intense portrait that captures the vulnerability of the subject. The round wooden base for the portrait reflects tondo works from the Renaissance and miniature portraits of the 18th century. The visible wood grains under the perfectly executed painting add another textured layer. The message is unapologetic and clear bringing to the surface the burden of balancing race and identity and gender leaving an immense vulnerability that isn’t normally apparent. Ultimately the piece is raw and direct and hits on a direct issue compelling the viewer to want to understand.
ABOUT: Jessica L. Porter is the Executive Director of New York Artists Equity Association, Inc (NYAEA) a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1947 by artists and art patrons with the mission to promote opportunities for artists. It operates Equity Gallery, an art space located on the Lower East Side of New York City. Porter maintains her own consulting company since 2001, Porter Advisory, working with organizations and other galleries as an independent curator, creating exhibitions in alternative spaces and exposing emerging artists to unique opportunities. She advises emerging artists on career development, marketing and strategic growth and guides collectors and institutions through art selection processes and investment. From 2006 to 2017, Porter founded and directed Porter Contemporary, a Chelsea art gallery, where she was responsible for the overall strategy, business development and market growth, marketing and communications as well as talent acquisition and development of the gallery.
Special Award Winner
Kelsey McDonnel No Turning Back
Chosen by David Weinberg, Executive Director, Weinberg Newton Gallery, Chicago, ILSTATEMENT: No Turning Back by Kelsey McDonnel. Family trees are remarkably apolitical, asexual and lack cultural texture. They are basically an accounting of how relatives are related. I was moved by the thought that at the heart of a family there is a woman who made a tough decision. The tree grows from that decision and balances on the shoulders of a strong woman. Kelsey McDonnell shows her own courage in fearlessly being literal in her depiction. Society tends to honor women who have gained public office, run large corporation or achieved fame in their trade. We don’t give enough credit to women who take on the awesome task of family-making.
ABOUT: David Weinberg is the Executive Director of a contemporary art gallery originally debuted in 2006 as David Weinberg Collection in Chicago’s River North neighborhood. In 2016, the space became Weinberg/Newton Gallery, having taken on a new mission focused on social justice issues. Together, David Weinberg and Jerry Newton have guided the Weinberg/Newton Family Foundation since 2009. David’s commitment to educational reform and passion for social justice is at the core of the gallery’s mission. Weinberg/Newton Gallery aims to create space for dialogue about the many social justice issues that concern our local Chicago community and beyond. In collaboration with artists and nonprofit organizations, we work to cultivate a culture of consciousness and inspire change by way of exhibitions, panel discussions, film screenings, artist talks, and more.
Special Award Winner
Sondra Schwetman WitnessChosen by Joan McLoughlin, McLoughlin Gallery, San Francisco, CA
STATEMENT: With Sondra Schwetman’s Witness, I appreciated the simplistic beauty and symbolism of the piece. It is elegant and female yet emits strength and determination. As a conceptual piece it encourages the viewer to reflect on the contemporary issues of racial and sexual inequality. Is femininity as we know it changing? Is our physical dress the primary presentation of femininity?
ABOUT: The McLoughlin Gallery is contemporary art gallery serving as a site for exhibitions and public programs working with established international and local mid-career and emerging contemporary artists. We represent and promote artists working in a wide array of media, including painting, sculpture, photography, video and installation. The mission for the gallery is to promote works and exhibitions with a social conscience and with plans to give back to the community. The gallery features established, European artists and emerging artists in the United States. www.mgart.com
Sondra Schwetman WitnessSilk, pigmented sewing pins, steel 60 x 82 x 3 inches
2018
Working in a large format, I focus on structure and balance in nature, channeling the spirit and power of the botanical world and of the divine feminine. The flowers burst forth with energy and strength, mirroring the internal strength of women, capturing the full glory to inspire and empower the feminine spirit in the viewer. Seeking universal themes of beauty, nature, and peace, these works on handmade cracked linen canvases, speak to us to encourage the viewer’s spirit to blossom and the true self to emerge.
www.robertaahrens.com
Silver Lake
Plaster embedded fiber with Genuine Silver Leaf on frame 48 x 60 x 4.5 inches
2016
*online gallery
My most recent work is an exploration. I started by pushing my most familiar materials of plaster, applied to fiber or fabric, to the limit. What I found, working large scale, was the form in its simplicity, expresses a feeling of elemental power. Standing before it evokes that feeling. There is a sense of movement. The form in its simplicity feels like nature. And the movement of nature, of creation pushing forward, is empowering. Rising up requires power. To RISE we must find our source of elemental power.
www.florencealfanomcewin.com
Leadership is more Than Howling! ½ e.v
“Little Mountain”, digitally presented drawing, Alfano McEwin 2017, photo intaglio, chine collé of found, cut, torn, painted, digitally altered papers, collage 24 x 25.25 inches
2017
*online gallery
In my prints, I utilize Red Riding Hood to describe male-female tensions and to portray feminine empowerment. The context of a universal child’s tale and appropriated imagery allows a conversational accessibility which meshes topics and concepts. In Leadership Is More Than Howling ½ e.v. I obliquely reference bullying tactics which fail the test of leadership. Red Riding Hood dances away with a following, while the wolf who by nature howls non-stop, has no following.
Chloe Allred
Santa Ana, California
www.allredchloe.com
Tani, Survivor Love Letter
Watercolor, ink on paper
14 x 26 inches
2018
*online gallery
These works are visual responses to individual Survivor Love Letters and a response to surviving assault. The text a love letter to herself and an introduction to the project.
www.jennyebalisle.com
NOT YOUR SEX OBJECT
Rubber
30 x 48 inches
My art practice investigates symbols of influence that impact perception. A standard trucker mud flap has been repurposed altering its function. When Donald J. Trump became President, he was confronted with the Women’s March, sexual abuse victims, and the #metoo revolution. The structures of gender objectification are interwoven into systemic discrimination and consumerism. Women are not sex objects or empty silhouettes. We must reject and reclaim cultural symbols.
Michele Benzamin-Miki Warner Springs, California
www.MicheleBenzaminMiki.com
Not all ecstasies are the same Acrylic, colored pencil, graphite on paper 51 x 36 inches
2017
*online gallery
This piece is part of a series called Dynamic Meditations. The piece explores our experience of bliss, wholeness and completion when it is fueled by a larger than individual and personal purpose. In these challenging times, we must rise above complacency, disappointment, cynicism, and hopelessness. Let’s actively reflect on how we can participate to create the world we all long for.
San Francisco, California
www.mariebergstedtartist.com
Ladies in Lab Coats
Silk, cotton, interfacing, mounted on commercial fixture, hand embroidery and machine stitching
64 x 60 x 62 inches
2018
*online gallery
Ladies in Lab Coats celebrates women, science and diversity. Concerned about current political decisions that threaten growth, I researched female scientists throughout history. Women across the world have had the intelligence and interest to lead in scientific discovery, but few have had the opportunity. This piece recognizes female scientists and aims to encourage girls to rise.
So the Darkness Shall Be The Light And The Stillness The Dancing
The girls are fighting back, floating, strong and beautiful: the power of sisterhood. Threatening little uglies cannot succeed. I will the girls to not only survive, but to complete their journey. The image is about the hardest part of the trip; the intersection between potential and conflict. I have painted women and girls facing conflict elegantly and fiercely for about 13 years.
The plight of survival: undervalued mothers are never genuinely appreciated while they sacrifice their well-being, needs, and dreams. They deal with much that appears hopeless. With their quiet dignity, optimism, care, strategies, and perseverance, they are strong women who are not victims of their circumstances but instead they are champions of survival doing the very best they can. And for the children that assist in the family survival, they too must make sacrifices, be strong and put aside their want to play.
Fresh on the heels of the Women’s March with my heart full of solidarity and engagement, I was moved to paint a portrait of the Pussyhat, the spontaneously, ubiquitous uniform of the moment. Who would have guessed that pink knitwear could be the symbol of protest, resistance and empowerment? How perfect though, all those little stitches coming together to create something bigger than themselves, crafted with love, largely by women, for women, speaking volumes about who we are, and how we will be heard.
www.MarieCameronStudio.com
Feathers Oil on canvas
60 x 36 inches
2013
*online gallery
With one foot set in childhood and the other moving to adulthood, this coming of age portrait is a study in contrasts. The girl, on the cusp of womanhood, is dressed in the light and innocent dreams of childhood. Glowing against a milieu of dark, indeterminate shadows, it’s hard to make out the Bacchanal unfolding behind her. But seen now, in light of the #MeToo movement, one wonders if the pathway forward may be brighter.
As a young girl my natural curiosity in both arts and sciences was funneled into the most socially acceptable “feminine” channels, and these forms of knowledge were not considered equal or even compatible. The dry language of science failed to excite my poetic imagination, but the more available world of art was not expected to lead to concrete social change. I hope for future generations to find the bridge of communication between what is traditionally considered the realm of science—logical, constructive—and what is considered feminine and intuitive. This “translation” promotes equality, collaboration, and a more complete expression as human beings.
Assimilation of information, messaging and learning happen organically in many venues outside of official channels. School desks, bathroom stalls, subway walls become places where important information is shared and debated. Along side the “I love …”, “f*#k you”, etc. exist relevant, thought provoking ideas that need an uncensored, accessible space to be critiqued and explored. In (what) do YOU think? I eliminate the text book and the teacher and explore the idea of the value of education outside the mainstream.
Irene Carvajal Belmont, California
www.carvajal-art.com
Future Gains: the dollar is rising
Screen print on paper, fan and plexiglass tank
36 x 12 x 16 inches
2018
Equality benefits everyone. If value could be blind to race, gender, religion and sexual orientation our whole society would benefit. I created a new dollar bill, one that celebrates the future of our nation. A future in the hands of young people who reject old labels and are full of passion, strength and desire to make this a world where we are all valued equally. The bills are installed inside a plexiglass container with a constant fan. The dollar rises when we all work together, so does the (e)quality of life.
New York, New York
indiracesarine.com
Equal Means Equal
Glass, neon, mounted on clear plexiglass with wall mounts and electrical transformer
16 x 12 x 3 inches
2018
Empowering feminist themes are often a point of departure for my multi-sensory series, which challenge the status quo and shed light on oppressive narratives. This is a crucial time in history to stand up against discrimination, sexism and abuse of power. We must fight for our future. My neon light sculpture, Equal Means Equal, created in 2018, emphasizes the importance of equal rights for all humans, regardless of gender, which should be guaranteed in our constitution. Enough is enough. It is time for discrimination and the abuse of power to end. I see this work and symbol it displays as a powerful beacon of hope, lighting a path for the future of equality.
Nayda Cuevas
Arlington, Massachusetts
www.naydacuevasart.com
#latina:Reclaimingthelatinatag Oil on panel 5 x 3 inches each
2016
#Latina:ReclaimingtheLatinatag allows exploration to discuss Western society’s view of the myth of the Latin woman and to contemplate on stereotypes. Reclaiming the Latina Tag blog exists on social media Tumblr and the creators encourage Latina woman to join them in taking back (change and take action) the hashtag. In other words, to post selfies of a non-hypersexualized image of what it truly means to be or look like a Latina.
www.doucette.allyou.net
Makumegawiktoogwaal (Towards The Earth) #1
Glass seed beads and thread on landscape photographs, archival inkjet print on cotton rag
17.75 x 23 x 1.5 inches
2018
Makumegawiktoogwaal is Mi’kmaw meaning, “Towards the Earth.” These works are part of a series exploring issues of history, race and culture. Inspired by traditional Mi’kmaq|Métis quillwork and beadwork designs, I use the process of beading on my landscape photographs as a meditation on the complicated history of colonial settlement in North America and as a connection to my ancestors and the Earth. We have a saying in Mi’kmaw, “Msit No’kmaq,” which means, “All My Relations.” Everything is connected and has a spirit, even the plants, rocks and water; therefore, everything of the Earth is a part of us. In the face of contemporary ecological destruction, I find my traditional teachings empowering and I have created these works as a source of healing for myself, my community and the Earth and as a celebration of indigenous wisdom and heritage.
Santa
Barbara, Californiawww.doucette.allyou.net
Makumegawiktoogwaal (Towards The Earth) #2
Glass seed beads and thread on landscape photographs, archival inkjet print on cotton rag
17.75 x 23 x 1.5 inches 2018
Makumegawiktoogwaal is Mi’kmaw meaning, “Towards the Earth.” These works are part of a series exploring issues of history, race and culture. I was inspired by traditional Mi’kmaq|Métis quillwork and beadwork designs, customarily done by women, which carry encoded sacred knowledge within the patterns and colors in order to pass down cultural beliefs and identity. Native American women have used beadwork as a form of cultural resilience and empowerment, especially during times of pressure to assimilate into Euro-American culture. ## I use the process of beading on my landscape photographs as a meditation on the complicated history of colonial settlement in North America and as a connection to my ancestors and the Earth. We have a saying in Mi’kmaw, “Msit No’kmaq,” which means, “All My Relations.” Everything is connected and has a spirit, even the plants, rocks and water; therefore, everything of the Earth is a part of us. In the face of contemporary ecological destruction, I find my traditional teachings empowering and I have created these works as a source of healing for myself, my community and the Earth and as a celebration of indigenous women’s wisdom and heritage.
South Huntington, New York
www.sallyedelsteincollage.com
Women’s Lib-A Storms Approaching
Collage of appropriated vintage images 24 x 28 inches
2010
This collage takes a look at the early 1970s a pivotal time when women became conscious not only of the gender inequality but how our identities had become fragmented by a media dictating ever changing standards. This piece a pastiche of mid century American imagery a time when conflicting and confining images of media stereotypes of women littered the pop culture landscape that was erupting in a women’s liberation movement. It is worth remembering the 2nd wave feminists struggle against their own stereotypes.
Eleanor Epstein
Chattanooga, Tennessee
www.eleanorepstein.com
The Dealer of Dreams
Photograph
27 x 40 inches
2018 *online gallery
This shot is from a series of images that attempted to evoke a physical spirit of a non-binary divinity within the Tennessee landscape. This staged photograph of a goddess type woman doing “men’s work” aims to challenge the perceived gender of the subject. What residue is left in the earth from the civil war when women’s roles were redefined? How does this affect the present souls of the south?
Vanessa Filley
Evanston, Illinois
www.vanessafilley.com
#MeToo, Minerva
Looking
#MeToo Assata Toward
#MeToo Gabriela The Future
Archival pigment print on cotton rag paper 30 x 20 inches each 2018
These images are from a twenty image project chronicling the history of women’s experience of sexual violence. The collective impact of so many women depicted who have a #MeToo experience is meant to bring awareness to the shameful history of unrepentant perpetration that we should no longer be willing to quietly endure. By portraying women of today in a dress code of the past it is my intention to demonstrate the sense of time that women have been subject to sexual abuse in hopes that we can create a cultural shift so that the experience is not perpetuated in future generations.
The hand in this painting symbolizes the struggles of what women have gone through, are going through and will go through in the future. We reach for the top, then sometimes, we get pulled back down. We keep rising again and again, struggling to stay up, till eventually, we do. We have the power. We have the strength.
This biographical piece is about trying to hide emotional pain. I want to be viewed as strong, but my face betrays me. As a black woman, I am constantly bombarded, through the media, with such clichés as “Black Girl Magic” and “Strong Black Woman”, but what’s left out of those messages is that fact that I am human too. *Special Award Winner
Leslie Getz
West Harrison, Indiana
www.lagetz.weebly.com
#BeAReflection2
Graphite on clayboard
12 x 12 inches
2018
*online gallery
Sometimes artwork is created to get viewers to ask questions. What does “The Future Is Female” mean? It has had a lot of different meanings over the years and I ask that you become informed and decide what it means to you. This artwork is part of a series in which I believe we have to be a reflection of what we hope to see in the world. As the mirror states, “The Future is Female” is “closer than it appears”.
www.lagetz.weebly.com
Laughing at Crow’s Feet #NoFilter Graphite and pastel on Clayboard 12 x 12 inches
2017 *online gallery
If I had known all that laughing was going to cause these wrinkles around my eyes, I would have lived a much more serious life. Just kidding, but I have to admit, the “Dream” filter in the Photoshop Elements App is my new best friend. It erases my crow’s feet perfectly and I look years younger at the click of a button. I draw self-portraits often and I use my inner App, always editing out my wrinkles...in selfportrait world, I haven’t aged a bit. With this artwork titled, Laughing at Crow’s Feet #Nofilter, I decided to embrace and laugh at, if you will, the wrinkles because life is too short to take yourself too seriously.
www.christinegiancolaphotography.com
Women’s March on Washington Digital print
20 x 24 x 1 inches
2017
*online gallery
“We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.” Dr. King
While photographing the steady sea of people during the Women’s March on Washington in Washington D.C., I witnessed the best of humanity. People of all races, ages, sexes and genders with one common interest, to let our voices join in protesting the election of Trump and his divisive agenda. Empowered by one another, we joined in our commitment to include and defend the human and civil rights of the weakest and most vulnerable among us.
Rinat Goren
Woodside, California
www.rinatart.com
Finding Points Of Agreement I
Beeswax, pigment and paper on wood panel
36 x 36 inches
2016
Finding Points of Agreements celebrates our ability as humans to think, reason, and make choices. As such- even in the face of a disagreement—we can always find basic points of agreements from where we can then depart in discussion and debate using inquiry and curiosity. This piece is a call for finding those points of agreements and continue the path of discovering each other’s point of view with respect and interest.
Rinat Goren
Woodside, California
www.rinatart.com
Finding Points Of Agreement II
Beeswax, pigment and paper on wood panel
36 x 36 inches
2016
Finding Points of Agreements celebrates our ability as humans to think, reason, and make choices. As such- even in the face of a disagreement—we can always find basic points of agreements from where we can then depart in discussion and debate using inquiry and curiosity. This piece is a call for finding those points of agreements and continue the path of discovering each other’s point of view with respect and interest.
In the Andean spiritual tradition, the Ñust’as are the earthkeepers and archetypal energies of nature that connect us to the sacred feminine, universally carrying energies of awakening and empowerment. Deepening this feminine connection strengthens our relations with ourselves, with Pachamama or Mother Earth, living energy, and indeed to all of creation. These Karpay or rites call us to receive, to empower ourselves, and radiate the balance and light of creation into the world
www.maevegrogan.com
Noise & Space Game
Mixed media, Flashe acrylic, on birch panel 24 x 24 x 1.75 inches
2017
Try moving your eyes around the images in the circle, listen to the stories that arise with the images... then move your eyes to the center and pause, listening to yourself. Try it a few times. This artworkgame is an exploration of how we can consciously play with moving our awareness. For the “Noise”, I sourced socially charged images from the internet, history, and children’s coloring book fragments so the image field has past, present and future stories all overlapping and rubbing edges. I use a deep, matte black paint that absorbs rather than reflects light, to minimize distraction in the “Space” field. Consciously going between the fields offers a way to play with shifting our awareness by choice, not just letting it be carried along in a sea of noise.
www.karunagutowski.com
Ambient Thoughts
Acrylic, mixed media, image transfer on wood panel with cold wax finish 24 x 24 x 1.5 inches
2017
Our thoughts create an environment from which we then act in the world. Is it possible to live in the world as an awakened being, inspiring healing and harmony, universal compassion and love?
Sunnyvale,
Californiawww.hermelyn.com
Bound Monotype oil, paper on panel, string 48 x 48 inches
2018
Today, women continue to be bound by gender, caste, creed, and nation. Despite this, many have broken through barriers to obtain leadership positions in industry, academe, and government. The Forbes’ list 100 Most Powerful Women underscores this advancement. Although women have proven their value in the workplace and made a positive impact on their personal financial success and that of the economy over all, there is an internal barrier holding women back. Bonds of doubt, of their own making, prevent many women from advancing. It takes continual courage for women to face and lead themselves toward what is fully possible.
The term “glass ceiling” describes the invisible barrier to advancement imposed upon women and minorities. My installation is a tribute to the many smart and hard-working women who aspire to be more, to break free, and to ascend into positions of greater influence.
Gina Herrera
Bakersfield, California
www.ginaherrera.com
Jaunting for Restitution
Assorted found materials
74 x 47 x 18 inches
2017
Drawing from my Tesuque Pueblo and Costa Rican heritage, as well as my life-long rapport with nature, my intuitive sculptural process is an aesthetic and spiritual ritual to channel and honor Mother Earth. Natural and man-made objects scavenged from the landscape are re-configured into lithe, energetic, being-like assemblages. Precariously posed on the brink of movement, their haunting spiritual presence reminds us of their unfinished, continued existence, nudging us to question our culture of consumption and repair our relationship to the earth.
Gina Herrera
Bakersfield, California
www.ginaherrera.com
A Mystified Prancer
Assorted found materials
74 x 47 x 18 inches
2017
*online gallery
Drawing from my Tesuque Pueblo and Costa Rican heritage, as well as my life-long rapport with nature, my intuitive sculptural process is an aesthetic and spiritual ritual to channel and honor Mother Earth. Natural and man-made objects scavenged from the landscape are re-configured into lithe, energetic, being-like assemblages. Precariously posed on the brink of movement, their haunting spiritual presence reminds us of their unfinished, continued existence, nudging us to question our culture of consumption and repair our relationship to the earth.
www.janethillerartist.com
Shattered
Hand dyed and painted cotton and bamboo fabrics, tucked, hand quilted 54 l x 32 inches
2015
*online gallery
Goodbye, glass ceiling. We have broken through. Observe with wonder and awe the great things achieved when restrictions are removed, and limitations lifted.
I made the work Rise Up from a special edition magazine that covered the Women’s March in DC and around the world. Being someone who was at the DC march, the energy of the publication should have been directed solely towards the people who were there and the defiance it represented, I felt. The publication’s primary focus seemed more about the celebrities who attended as some sort of plastic validation and the object itself acted as a keepsake pushing the movement to history instead of moving it forward. I returned the energy back to the participants and the message by taking it back from a cheap capitalist cash grab and transforming it into protest art.
Our death will be a beautiful sleep. We join a universe or heaven where we can communicate with others in any language without fear or limitations. In Womanhood I express my intimate relationship with flowers and color to embrace this potential. I became a part of nature so I could be free from my physical body and part of Mother Nature.
Beth Lakamp
Fenton, Missouri
www.bettsvando.com
that’s the idea
Watercolor ink pastel on clay board panel
16 x 12 inches
2018
The women in my paintings have something to say and the timing is just right. There is a rare incredible confluence of audience and spirit. Egos fall silent as spirits rise in unanimity. She leads in this moment, fittingly. Progress unfolds as great ideas are given life. Listen or else.
Beth Lakamp
Fenton, Missouri
www.bettsvando.com
she told them so Watercolor on clayboard panel 16 x 20 inches
2018
The women in my paintings have something to say and the timing is just right. There is a rare incredible confluence of audience and spirit. Egos fall silent as spirits rise in unanimity. She leads in this moment, fittingly. Progress unfolds as great ideas are given life. Listen or else.
www.chandrikamarla.com
For Our Lives
Acrylic on canvas
40 x 40 inches
2018
Recent events have colored my paintings with thoughts of empowerment, marches, support and renewal. The urgency to take action hit home when my twelve year old chose to be a part of the National School Walkout earlier this year. Our neighbors and friends were so proud to see these young children be the harbingers of change, and it was inspiring to watch them fight for revolutionary but sensible gun laws. The two shoulders in this painting portray our children, their determination, and their bold plans. This exemplifies empower, change and action!
Inspired by my Mother’s prayer books I inherited, my altered book has become my “prayer book”. The “holy cards” are loose and spilling over. It’s become a journal for me, a method of coping, developed largely while sitting in hospital waiting rooms, sitting, waiting and lamenting on loved ones. The words Resist, #MeToo, Never Again, are written out. I tore out pages so I could carry them with me wherever I found myself. This book became a method of coping with my fears and anxieties while giving voice to the need to, “rise, empower and change”, and to pray.
Four
www.kelseymcdonnell.com
No Turning Back
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 24 inches
2011
Sometimes you leave your ‘roots’ and what you do, where you go, who you marry or befriend make it impossible to return. No turning back is a stepping into one’s self.
www.kelseymcdonnell.com
Learning to be a Phenomenal Woman, #6 Balancing Time and Energy
Acrylic on canvas
30 x 24 inches
2011
After reading Maya Angelou’s poem Phenomenal Woman I realized I didn’t feel that way about myself. This series was an exploration of that, specifically #6 address was my reflection on women balancing energy and time.
Kelsey McDonnell Buffalo, Wyoming
www.kelseymcdonnell.com
Shelter Me Acrylic on canvas 20 x 20 inches
2012
*online gallery
Wolf reintroduction in Wyoming and Montana was a dividing point for many citizens. Ultimately I choose the wolf. I didn’t necessarily think relocating the wolves was the best choice for the wolves but once they were here I knew they would need allies.
Redlands, California
www.Magpieseye.com
sweet fragrant spring
Graphite, colored pencil, digital composite on rice papers, encaustic, metallic thread with LED 18 x 14 x 2 inches
2017
In the winter sentient beings experience a period of somnolence. Cold weather and low light communicate the need for rest and regeneration—plants go dormant, animals hibernate or migrate, humans make lots of popcorn and binge watch This is Us. As the earth turns towards spring, everyone wakes up–sap flows, trees leaf out and flowers bloom, sweet fragrant spring is an rumination on the moment the world rises from winter to spring—life force wells up, kinks loosen, the threshold of beauty is open once again and the power of the feminine is revealed through rebirth and renewal.
Julie Meridian San Jose, California
www.juliemeridian.com
Elevate Acrylic on canvas 48 x 36 inches
2017 *online gallery
Elevate is about the culmination of small gestures into something greater. We each start in a different place but can move forward together. We each can participate at different levels in ways that support and encourage others. Each contribution forms a richer, more powerful whole.
Rosemary Meza-DesPlas
Dallas, Texas
www.rosemarymeza.com
Emma Sulkowicz #3
Hand-sewn human hair with thread and watercolor accent 14 x 11 inches
2017
This artwork is part of a series focusing on gender-based violence. It specifically references Emma Sulkowicz and her artwork Mattress Performance, Carry That Weight. Sulkowicz’s durational performance, carrying a mattress on campus, was a direct response to her rape. This act of resistance underscored survival and endurance. Sulkowicz’s story and image became a visually striking daily reminder of gender-based violence on college campuses.
www.mrpotani.com
Political Action Group
Artist’s book, 20 pages pamphlet stitched, paint and ink on braille 10 x 10 inches
2018
What women are the power brokers in Congress today? Who are the up and comers in politics? The braille book format punctuates the danger of turning a blind eye to politics and allowing extremists to move our nation in the wrong direction. The women painted on these pages are current and future politicians. Through them I hope we will reverse the current trend and expand environmental protection, immigration rights and access to healthcare, solidify LGBTQ rights protect reproductive rights, and implement gun control.
Karis Painter
Media, Pennsylvania
@kpmarakuya
Balancing
Digital photography
18 x 24 inches
2011
*online gallery
Balancing brings attention to the weight women carry in their roles in a family and society. Daily tasks illustrate the strength of women, as they navigate their environments. This image highlights the power of a mother caring for her children while gathering wood.
www.amypleasantseattle.com
On Her Shoulders
Acrylic on canvas
36 x 24 inches
2017
Living in a man’s world, Did the best she could, a dollar for a day, a broken heart, a dream deferred But, she did, so that I didn’t have to, She didn’t, so that I could. Change comes slowly, Not in her lifetime, but perhaps in mine.
*The artist at age 13 with her grandmother.
Amy Pleasant Mill Creek, Washington
www.amypleasantseattle.com
In Her Mother’s Shadow
Acrylic on canvas 30 x 24 inches
*online gallery
Mothers and their mothers; sentinels of unconditional love, on the ready, showing the way of a woman in this world; To have courage, to stand, to love.
Something Worth Waiting For
Cherie Redlinger
Alexandria, Virginia
www.cheriemredlinger.com
Symbols Barred Etching and aquatint on printmaking paper 31 x 38 inches (framed) 2014
*online gallery
My artwork, titled Symbols Barred addresses the more than 200 year long struggle in USA to empower individual rights to openly and confidently practice their religious beliefs without persecution. I intend the work to demonstrate that our religious freedoms continue to be “barred” by prejudice, bigotry and hatred. My hope is that viewers will realize that we must bring positive change and mutual respect to our society and democratic culture regardless of religious diversity.
www.jennyreinhardtart.com
Split the Sack
Mixed media on primed linen
82 x 90 inches
2018
Split the Sack is a poem by Rumi, where he beckons humanity to answer their call to be creative and I employ my interpretation of street art and combine contemporary materials with poetry. Prominently displayed in this work is Jade Hameister, who in her mid-teens, and a major feat of bravery, conquered the ‘Polar Hat Trick’, skiing to both the North and South Poles and across Greenland. Nonetheless, she was trolled on the internet by men who admonished her that she should remain in the kitchen to make a sandwich. She said she would make their sandwich, with one caveat—they had to ski to the South Pole to get it! Venus of Willendorf, Marilyn Monroe and my friend, Michelle Trotter, an AfricanAmerican-Polynesian model, also make appearances in the works—all testaments to the divine female in many roles, both celebrated and scorned, but in the end are testaments to positivity.
www.jennyreinhardtart.com
The title is based on a poem by Rumi, called Split the Sack. He beckons humanity to create their own destiny. In my graffiti-esque interpretation of street art color, methods and material, I try to create a small world where women are powerful and triumphant. In it, my friend Michelle Trotter, an AfricanAmerican-Polynesian model, stands like the Nike of Samothrace, victorious against the endless exhaustion facing people of color. Jade Hameister, (a young explorer teased by internet trolls to make her a sandwich) doesn’t need to explain herself as she stands triumphant, still with the sandwich, the least of her incredible achievements. The Venus de Milo, presents an idealized classical representation of beauty perfected by the Greco-Roman adherence to proportion and harmony. Marilyn is biggertrying to break out of her potato sack. There is hope, arrival, and now, having risen, these women are here to stay.
Dana Richardson
Scotts Valley, California
www.danarichardsonartist.com
Burning Woman
Oil on canvas
40 x 30 x 1.75 inches
2018
Burning Woman was inspired by my personal pursuit of social and economic equality in the contemporary business world. As a full time artist and female business owner, this art piece expresses a personal and collective story of the modern woman. She faces exhaustion, manipulation and ultimately perseverance in statistically male dominated careers. The women are connected in a confiding gesture. This painting is an oath to persevere in pursuit of positive social changes and female empowerment no matter what obstacles women may face.
Scotts Valley, California
www.danarichardsonartist.com
Millennial Woman
Oil on canvas
40 x 30 x 1.75 inches
2018
*online gallery
My painting Millennial Woman was inspired by my experience as a feminist woman in the 21st century. My portrait of a strong female empowers the coming generations of women to rise and unite in the pursuit of transformation and redefining gender stereotypes. Her hair is entangled with social media hashtags and symbols to address the influence of technology on the women’s movement. The modern woman is empowered to ignite social change through her raw beauty, authenticity and strength in character on a global scale.
Be Gentle 1 focuses on a young boy holding a baby in a natural setting as a way to express a sense of vulnerability critical to personal and societal change. Individuals must be willing to enter that delicate openness of heart in the present moment in order to trust one’s feelings and to ultimately feel and express love. This is key to becoming a whole and empowered person who can relate honestly and intimately with others. It is a value we must promote as a society, especially among boys and men, if we want to create compassion, peace, justice, and equality.
Edward L. Rubin
Los Angeles, California
www.edwardlrubin.com
Handstand
Photograph on archival paper
17 x 21 inches (framed)
2018
*online gallery
The Women’s March exploded in cities across the country and the world, born from anger and frustration and the need to not only reclaim respect and dignity, but to also celebrate and express joy together. In the great tradition of street photography, I have captured unvarnished, authentic images of people in the moment of feeling their power, of making a joyful noise, of taking a stand publicly to proclaim their beliefs. Whether individually or in groups, these women are unafraid, direct, and proud. And this particular woman, with her bold handstand, is having fun, too!
Hilary Saner Morro Bay, California
www.hilarysaner.com
Patricia and Gina Oil on wood
64 x 52 inches
2017 *online gallery
Patricia and Gina is a painting about friendship and connection in a shared moment of goofiness and laughter. It is painted on a strong, beautiful wooden panel and speaks to the power of art to connect us, uphold us, raise our expectations for ourselves, and empower us to step into those possibilities.
Sondra Schwetman
Arcata, California
www.sondra-schwetman.com
Witness Silk, pigmented sewing pins, steel 60 x 82 x 3 inches
2018
Witness is from a new series called Bloodless Coup. This piece explores the fabric of society. Compared to the human system, the organs become a metaphor for the stream of society held together by sewing pins. Ready to sew and mend if given the opportunity. The forms chosen are dresses because I feel that women can be the menders of society’s ripped fabric. Similar to mending an article of clothing or making a quilt. Small pieces are put together to make a whole.
*Special Award Winner
Shh depicts freedom of expression inspired by but not necessarily about the Pussy Riot story, a Russian punk rock group that staged provocative guerilla performances on the themes of feminism, LGBT rights and politics. Their unauthorized protests were filmed in public places and posted on the Internet. They staged a protest performance in a cathedral that went viral and their subsequent arrests received global attention. Shh implies that free speech is a precursor to change.
Sarupa Sidaarth
Tiburon, California
www.sarupasidaarth.com
I, Me, Myself, You
Acrylic on canvas
20 x 20 x 1.5 inches each 2015
Perception of color begins with RGB sensitivity in the retina of the human eye. In the Trichromatic color vision theory, eye color receptor cells have maximum sensitivities in the red, green and blue regions of the spectrum. Portraits of a friend titled I, me, myself, and you employ the spiritual idea of the One to evoke solidarity and empowerment. It explores the idea of viewing the other as oneself and vice versa to encourage women to support each other and to empower themselves.
Kathy Taylor
Phoenix, Arizona
www.kathytaylorart.com
FIRE GODS
Acrylic, wood, newspaper, tape and string 10 x 6 x 4 inches
2017
*online gallery
Created from salvaged materials recovered from a burglary/arson fire at my home and studio, these artworks are part of an original “Gift of Fire” exhibit, which expands upon the cross-cultural idea of rebirth and renewal. Through the creative process the burnt materials were given new life; reframing a negative situation into an empowering growth experience. This healing journey has provided a roadmap for change and awareness contributing to my passion for sharing this transformative experience with others.
www.laurenthomasart.com
Swim
Oil paint, pencil, and linen
48 x 48 x 2 inches
2018
*online gallery
Swim is a metaphor for anyone’s journey of perseverance, and the reclamation of my personal power as an artist after raising my family.
Winnie van der Rijn
San Carlos, California
www.eccentricd.com
One Size Fits All Photographic digital image transfer and embroidery on muslin 6 x 6 inches each
2017
Women have been pressured by media and popular thought to conform to societal standards throughout history. Concerned with unrealistic beauty standards and conventional definitions of femininity and sexuality, I push these ideas into the grotesque by applying current ideals to vintage images exposing the absurdity of one size fits all beauty paradigm.
Kathy Weaver
Chicago, Illinois
www.kweaverarts.com
Mother Courage
Charcoal, airbrush, acrylic, stitched, burned on Arches paper 90 x 45 inches
2015
War stalks the land. It comes in many forms and leaves in its path a devastated population. Globally, one in every 122 humans is now either a refugee, internally displaced, or seeking asylum. The refugees move from country to country, searching for a safe, better life. Their trek is most difficult for the women, children and the very old. Yet, due to the courage of the mothers, aunts and grandmothers, a portion of these refugee widows have found safety. Like Mother Courage, they persist and endure.
Arleta, California
www.kimwilsonart.com daydream
Acrylic on paper
12 x 18 inches
2017
The pieces that I have submitted for this art call speak to my personal experience on many levels including how I identify and imagine myself as a Woman of Color, as a feminist, as an artist, as a mother, as a sexual being, as a teacher, as a daughter, as part of a community, and as a human being in this society. In addition, these pieces speak to the themes of the show directly including, how we can imagine creating a positive change through art.
The pieces that I have submitted for this art call speak to my personal experience on many levels including how I identify and imagine myself as a Woman of Color, as a feminist, as an artist, as a mother, as a sexual being, as a teacher, as a daughter, as part of a community, and as a human being in this society. In addition, these pieces speak to the themes of the show directly including, how we can imagine creating a positive change through art.
www.kimwilsonart.com
wanting more Acrylic, pencil, and paper 12 x 18 inches
2017
The pieces that I have submitted for this art call speak to my personal experience on many levels including how I identify and imagine myself as a Woman of Color, as a feminist, as an artist, as a mother, as a sexual being, as a teacher, as a daughter, as part of a community, and as a human being in this society. In addition, these pieces speak to the themes of the show directly including, how we can imagine creating a positive change through art.
Poem and Performance:
Read and images projected at the Opening Reception
Ceciley Blanchard
Jackson, Tennessee
@cecileyblanch.art
Still I Rise
Quick frame (9), styrofoam-core poster board with paper double sided taped on top (10), photos
19 x 13 x 9/16 inches
2018
Ever since I was a child, Maya Angelou’s Still I Rise has been my favorite poem. When I was in 5th grade I recited this poem at a talent show, and I loved it. This poem’s title and subject relate hand in hand with the theme of exhibition RISE. ‘Still I Rise’ is a liberating poem for women and especially black women—Maya Angelou seemed to speak her mind to help empower women. As the viewer reads from left to right, the photos are juxtaposed with lines from the poem.
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies, You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you? Why are you beset with gloom? ’Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns, With the certainty of tides, Just like hopes springing high, Still I'll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops, Weakened by my soulful cries?
Does my haughtiness offend you? Don't you take it awful hard
’Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
You may shoot me with your words, You may cut me with your eyes, You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise.
Does my sexiness upset you? Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?
Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide, Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise I rise I rise.
