Ann Dawkins

@anncd

Acidic Lungs - Oil on Canvas, 72" X 48", 2019, $4500
Seedy Underbelly - Oil on Canvas, 51" X 69", 2020, $3500
Strawberry Tongue - Oil on Canvas, 54" X 72", 2019, $4000

Artist Statement

My work uses the language of thick oil paint to describe the visceral and fleshy qualities of neglected, discarded, and partially consumed fruit as a representation of the vulnerable and uncontrollable physicality of the human body. As a human, it can often feel that your body is an external object that is not within your control; that your physical being is prison or an enemy that is unpredictable and susceptible to outside forces of evil, deception, and disease. Rotten fruit has become a deliberate metaphor for me through linguistic research. To rot can, by definition, mean all manner of corruption. Fruit is often used in connection, spanning back to biblical times, with women, their sins, and sexuality, as well as their ability to produce life. The term fleshy is used only to describe fruit and the human body, often women’s bodies, which are deemed “soft and thick” just like the tissue of a fruit.

The work manifested through my own experiences with chronic pain, illness, and trauma, all of which appeared to act as a single malicious entity that threatened my physical being. It is through this experience that I began to examine and accept bodily suffering and its inevitability.

Meredith Elder

@meldera

Wax Coat, Rubber Neck and a Thing in the Bush - Acrylic and Pencil, 36”x36", 2020, $410
Portals - Acrylic, pencil and oil, 16”x20", 2020, $380

Artist Statement

These artworks focus on the intimate realities of the solitary self, using the figure and exploring its capacity to portray a myriad of intangible aspects of the individual. Creating a fluid space for these complex, solitary intimacies, the paintings play with warped perspectives and surroundings. The scenes are set intentionally, as a nod to a larger network. This body of work suggests the act of painting is an attempt to exist in a spiritual conversation - nothing being everything and everything being nothing; having the physical body as a degree of separation, yet no barrier at all. The form, function and execution of these artworks have more to say, but in theme, that is personal.

Kayleah Aldrich

@kayleahaldrich_art

No, thank you - 48” x 36”, 2021, $430
To fight with, not against - 48” x 60”, 2021, $500
Extend - Oil on panel, 48” x 96”, 2021, $900

Artist Statement

My experiences as a dancer and boxer shape my work. In my paintings, I present women’s bodies in a deconstructed, dynamic, and expressive manner. I find release, control, and connection to myself through movement. Contradictory to historical preconceptions of how women should submissively behave, I use bold line, forceful gesture, and jarring color combinations to counteract these presumptions and portray strength. Bodies are universal vehicles of expression, yet are infinitely unique in the ways each inner self projects through the bodily structures, acting as vessels for our true selves. The figures in my paintings exemplify the rejection of historical conventions, and proclaim directiveness, confidence, and strength through gesture.

Power is an intangible energy our Western society has rules as to how it is presented, accepted, and challenged. Women historically materialize in media not as themselves, but through the lens of men as caricatures of who they should be. As a little girl, I observed my “predestined” role of being a dainty, pretty, and passive feminine individual being laid out in front of me; there wasn’t room for power or strength in these presented rules. I paint to challenge these limiting directives.

These paintings are inspired by cubists and abstract expressionists through paint application to create the sense of dynamic, abstracted figures existing in a color field of a space. These paintings challenge the bravado, male dominated work made at that time. Abstract painters from that time showed off their masculinity and power in their work. I pull from their techniques to present a fresh, opposition through my own narrative as a woman. The vibrant imagery sits on heavy, large, and sturdy panels, acting just as the bodies painted on them do in the act of not being afraid of taking up their space. The women in my work act to defy their traditional submissive, one-dimensional roles by expressing roaring, bold energy through their bodies.

Roanna Tella

@roannatella

Let me tell you how I got Kilimanjaro to do my bidding - Oil, acrylic, & ink on canvas, 48” x 60”, 2021, $3600
Waiting for Florence - Oil on canvas, 48” x 36”, 2021, $2300

Artist Statement

Inspired by the full spectrum of emotions and personal, recurring waves of distress, Roanna’s practice revolves around mental resilience and what it looks like in times of great distress. Looking at how she processes recurring overwhelming emotions through various coping mechanisms, she urges one to explore distress and grief not only as a solitary event to be traversed, but to get comfortable with viewing it as a state of mind, always there, sometimes shifting forward, oftentimes retreating.

Oil paint on canvas is her primary medium, but she began experimenting with watercolor and ink during the COVID lockdown last year. Roanna’s creative process relies on the conceptualization of what she wants to create and how she wants it to be perceived, starting with finding inspiration in the weirdest things, taking notes, research, refining the narrative, and moving on from there.

In her ongoing series titled As I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death (featuring twelve oil paintings), Roanna visually depicts the mental journey of identifying one’s stressor/anxiety, meeting and dialoguing with it, navigating and eventually defeating it, through personification. She employs the coping mechanism of naming one’s stressor to give it a less abstract, out of mind experience, believing that acknowledgement is a step forward to understanding and cohabiting better. The central figure/character in these paintings chooses the name Florence for her stressor, this can be seen in specific parts of the three paintings included in this application. With an introduction of a mental map in four paintings to keep track of the subject’s emotions, Mount Kilimanjaro serves as a metaphor for the subject’s illness and challenges. Despite the awareness around mental health, it is important to emphasize the lifelong healing process and knowledge of being self aware and committing to sitting in, understanding and navigating one’s illness better, one step at a time.

Looking towards tapestry, Roanna is challenging herself by working with a new medium - thread, and is incorporating hand-sewn text designs and stories in this body of work which serves as a reflective, meditative and documentative process for tracing emotions and triggers.

Lillian Chun

@lillian___chun

An Accumulation of Split Seconds Until She Made It Here - Oil, gouache, image transfers, charcoal & graphite on canvas, 30” x 33”, 2021, $460

Artist Statement

Over time, our bodies become a time capsule with residue from our histories, but much of it remains unseen. Unraveling is an ongoing series I began during quarantine that brings a black light to the surface by exposing the hidden fragments and trauma that womxn’s bodies accumulate. Using analog photography, image transfers, drawing, and painting, I began with myself as the subject and subconsciously used these processes to honor my own moments of unraveling such as inner desires of escapism while in the throes of motherhood and a paralyzing fear of running out of time.

When dismantling my protective armor and leaning into the discomfort of vulnerability, I experience a deep sense of paradox while breaking myself wide open and also feeling the pressure to quickly carry on and pretend like everything is fine, because this is what strong womxn do. Through layering, deconstructing, reckoning, and compiling imperfect marks upon and around myself, I reprocess triggering memories and aspects of my inner being that have remained hidden or remnants that were simply compartmentalized as a defense mechanism during everyday life. Initially photographed in an anxious state, then transferred onto a new surface, an abstract landscape becomes a sanctuary that transcends the anxiety trajectory into something imperfectly beautiful and safe.

Julia Terry

@juliakterry

Returning Home - hand cut black paper, 8”x 10.5”, 2021, $200
Seeing Myself - hand cut black paper, 8”x 10.5”, 2021, $200

Artist Statement

As an art student and young adult, I often used self portraits to explore who I am and expressions of my identity. After becoming a new parent and working full time, I gave up the practice of looking at myself in this way. In recent years, taking selfies with my phone has become a fun and reflective practices and a way of returning to myself and my body as a place of joy, pleasure, and abundance. Falling in love with papercutting, and making work that celebrates all types of body has helped me embrace my own. These cut paper pieces are from a series of selfie inspired portraits.

Traci Mims

@Traci_mimsartist

We are Pretty give us money - acrylic on paper, 22” x 30”, 2020, $1970
I’m black - charcoal on paper, 32”x48”, 2021, $3410

Artist Statement

As an artist I want to provoke thought, educate, and create change. As a black female my art is a perfect platform. The work I create tells the story about some of the aspects of black womanhood and how we are perceived and treated socially. It also represents our attitudes in dealing with this and the strength over adversity that most of us have to demonstrate on a regular basis. My work also confronts social issues and injustices that are at the forefront of American current events and culture.

Jasmine Best

@jasminebestart

Self Portrait Check In - Digital Painting and Collage printed on hanging canvas, 35"x 35", 2020, $375

Artist Statement

A visual personal check in with myself in late Fall of 2020. The last self portrait had been years ago when I was in a very different place in life. This piece was created in curiosity of how I saw myself in such an isolated year. I was unpacking a lot about beauty, race, and capitol. Really considering Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom’s essay “In the Name of Beauty” and how as a Black woman, I am expected to interact with beauty so that others could gain capital but had found different ways to combat that throughout my life. This self portrait shows evidence of this reflection in it’s execution. Less of an accurate rendering but an attempt to be less partial to any flattering decisions that could be made while crafting this self portrait. Collaging in floral fabric reflect my Southern femme identity still present in my negotiation of beauty and of what I value in a world that was becoming more honest about it’s devaluing of myself and it’s desire to commodify.

Jasmine Wilson & Studio Noize Podcast