PERSISTERS / Statement
Unlike traditional portraits, my PERSISTERS paintings depict women with their faces partially masked; one defining feature – sometimes the eyes, sometimes the mouth – is usually covered from view.
Partially covering the face is an act of defiance and empowerment; you are only allowed to see what is shown to you, not the whole person. This mirrors an act of self-editing we each carry out, socially and emotionally, thousands of times a day. Through wrapping, shielding, covering, and masking each person with items that are personal to their life experience, the work expresses a deeper part of their story. Masking the face acknowledges that there are parts of ourselves we cannot easily reach or share with the outside world, and brings attention to struggles in our personal evolution due to societal barriers stemming from prejudices against race, gender, personal trauma, mental illness— the list is never-ending. By cloaking these women’s eyes, their mouths, their noses, I am asking the world to look harder, to pay attention to these women and more specifically, to the important human issues of our time.
These life-size highly realistic oil paintings represent women entrepreneurs, political activists, women working in the arts, and commissioned subjects.