';
view
They are strong, powerful, and feminine, holding your gaze with a sense of understanding of things that we could never dare to express; I see them as standing strong, even while sitting down, challenging, and reshaping gender expectations that are long-established in our culture.
My mother accepted security at a cost. I insisted on freedom of choice. Today, my daughter’s generation is embracing nothing less than total acceptance of who they are, both body and mind. It’s empowering to see. Evolution will continue, as we battle for woman’s rights, because every human being has the right for self-determination over one’s body and mind.
Sit Like a Lady
We are taught to play roles every day, worrying about what we are supposed to do, and stressing about what every other person thinks of us. We are told what makes a lady, that it is something intangible, yet ever important. It lives in the way we speak, walk, and dress. I thought of my mother as this piece came to life, and she said, “sit like a lady.”
She sits confident and powerful, in a body position often associated with men. In this ‘wide’ position, she challenges the customary gender stereotypes of ‘a powerful position’ for a man being ‘a sexual signal position’ for a woman. Sit Like a Lady is a visual metaphor for the practice of ‘wo+manspreading.’
Lift, Nip, & Tuck
No matter how beautiful we are, or have been, the world seems to demand more of us. Lift, nip, and tuck, they tell us, over and over again. So, when we look in the mirror and see all our imperfections, we lift, nip, and tuck, over and over again.
I’ve come to realize that aging gracefully requires us to appreciate the wisdom of imperfections, to embrace the natural process that we all go through, no matter how beautiful we are, or have been. As it grows more and more difficult to escape the pressures of anti-aging procedures by the world around us, a new norm of false faces has risen. Choosing to age naturally has become the new shame.
Point of Crossing
Every day, we experience fleeting moments between the unfamiliar, sharing a common place and time. These near meetings have a transparency to them, passing points in space, seemingly insignificance. Points where future, present, and past overlap then fade. It feels important to remember these drifting connections.
Hidden Faces
Stillness and turbulence meet in the quiet moments of deep reflection. Amidst life’s struggles, we search to find peace and happiness from within. When it’s turbulent, it is difficult to see. When it’s calm, everything becomes clear.
Unrepeated
Throughout my life, many have called me an identical twin and admired our commonality, but I have never thought of myself as identical to anyone. This series is my celebration of human diversity. We may all share a common form, but it is our differences that make us uniquely valuable.
