Introduction

Some time ago, I began seriously thinking about being a “southern woman” – what it means, how and why we are similar to and different from “northern, western, and eastern women”.  I started to really look at the women in my life—past and present. These are people I genuinely respect and love, through their individual as well as their collective qualities and character traits.  Over the next months, I made lists of important women in my life, those I felt had contributed to making me into who I am, and lists of the traits that I appreciate in each of them.  Deciding to make portraits of each one was my next step.  These are not famous women.  These are extra-ordinary women.  They are all women I know personally, some more intimately than others, but probably no one recognizable outside of my own community.  My hope is to illustrate that those women who make the most significant contributions to our development are ordinary, and thereby extra-ordinary people.  They create and sustain us as women and as human beings.

“My Women” is a body of work that honors these women in my life.  This show will have 30 pieces, though not all need to be displayed.  This is only a fraction of the women who have influenced me.  My plan is to continue these drawings, eventually developing a comprehensive body of work, but one that can never, in principle, be finished.

Some of the qualities I have attempted to capture in the body of work include kindness, compassion, love, passion, independence, assertiveness, sensuality, maternalism, sexuality, determination, femininity, self-confidence, friendship, kinship, happiness, humor, individuality, creativity, diversity, spontaneity, intelligence, wisdom, humility, accomplishment, leadership, and tenderness.  

The technique used to create the drawings involves a series of steps.  First, I take 50 to 100 photographs of the individual.  Next, I create a design with the photographs, cutting and pasting bits and pieces, adding drawing in places, incorporating symbols, icons, and objects that help define the person.  The final collage is then scanned, enlarged, and printed.  Next, I redraw the image on top of the print with chalk pastel.  The result is a “richer-than-reality” intensity of color.  The finished pieces are vibrant and fun.  They range from 24” x 30” to 35” x 45”.  Some settings are work-related; others center on hobbies or family.  A variety of portrait styles have been used as well, with some being traditional poses and others action shots.  Some subjects seem to know they have an audience; others are unaware of their observers.
  
Now, there is one further aspect to this installation, but it has not yet been realized.  Each of the women has a story, and these are being recorded to an audio file that will be associated with their image, so that the viewer can listen to a short segment based on a series of questions about their experiences as women in the south.  The remaining barrier here is I have not worked out the technical details of how to play the recordings—that is, in a manner where equipment is both accessible and secure.