40 OVER 40: Women Artists of Oklahoma By Kristin Gentry
Michael Wilson, Sam, Bear, Jenna, mixed media
Important dialogs and discussions within the state of Oklahoma surround gender and age for all workforces. It is especially necessary to explore them in the fine arts workspaces. Visual artists identifying as women are showing in this exhibition with their art and voice to be seen and heard in ways that have not always been included in exhibitions for practiced self-identifying women. This shift is needed, relevant, and should illustrate how gender, femininity, and age are explored by the artists selected. The things they find to express are demonstrated through their visual art rather than always expressed by their person. Each artist selected will have one piece for sale on display at MAINSITE Contemporary Art in Norman in a variety of two-dimensional and three-dimensional fine art. Featured artist, Jarica Walsh, said, “The idea for the show began as a discussion where older, women-identifying artists were expressing that they felt invisible, that they felt excluded from opportunities. Having Ginna and Erinn [curators] see that need and create the exhibition is excellent. I am a champion for artists
creating opportunities for themselves if they feel institutions and organizations aren’t offering what they need. It’s great to see more and more galleries making it a priority to create opportunities for underrepresented populations.” Her art in the exhibition, By A Thread, is a response to emptiness, to feeling a void. The sculpture is bisque earthenware with thread. She describes it as “the bisque finish of the clay means that it still has a rawness to it, that it is vulnerable and exposed to the elements. There are a series of holes cut and punctured into the sculpture. These voids represent the pain that life can present, the vast emptiness that loss can leave behind. This is how recovery is, in my experience. Wounds begin to heal in small ways. The color starts to return to life, little by little. Time passes and the pain eases, but the loss never goes away. The thread is holding us together. Sometimes we are holding on by a thread.” Walsh was born in Pawhuska and is a proud member of the Osage Nation. She lives and works in Oklahoma City, maintaining a studio in the Paseo Arts District.
Alex Emmons, another featured artist, described the importance for this exhibition by saying “There are interesting trends for women across the country that are often met with adversity for speaking their minds. It [40 Over 40] is women identified; inclusion---it’s warranted. There is also a need for support for middle-aged artists.” Her piece selected for this exhibition, Sooner’s Pink Blanket, is a digital photograph displayed without glass so that the viewer can experience the velvety surface of the print. Emmons works with a range of photo media, from 19th century photographic methods to current digital image-making. Her projects are inspired by memories, intuition, and personal history which she incorporates to connect with her audience. A recent paper on gender disparities for artists was published in 2019 and showed “that of the permanent collections of eighteen prominent art museums in the United States that out of over 10,000 artists, 87% are male, and 85% are white (Diversity of Artists in Major U.S. Museums, CM Topaz, et al., March 20, 2019, Public (continued to page 8)
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