The paintings in this series are based on 19th century photographs of anonymous women who are hiding their faces in one way or another. They are anonymous because their names were never recorded, or if they were, this information has not survived. Their hidden faces add to this anonymity and render them 'unreadable'; we don't know their names, and we can't guess their feelings.
Because the images were pre-existing – I have not invented them – my role was to interpret and present them so a certain narrative is conveyed. Through these paintings I explore the taboo, the symbolic and various rights of passage. I hope the works challenge the viewer to consider oppression and empowerment. When imposed, the hidden face is oppressive; when chosen, it’s empowering.
The treatment of the subjects varies: the figures in the small paintings are blended and soft – and black and white – a nod to their intimacy and an attempt to replicate the sublimeness of 19th century photographic techniques. The larger pieces are blocked with colour – bringing them forward into a world where the pop aesthetic speaks volumes about undeniability and presence.
The paintings also explore how photography has responded to women. While some of the images are based on photographs that were probably commissioned by the women themselves or their families - like the picture of the women mourning; or the long haired girls and women, showing off their femininity and virtue; the hidden mother, propping up and comforting her babies while they are photographed; or the flirting Peruvian Tapadas - other pictures are obviously the constructs of the photographers themselves, and depict preconceived racial and generic 'types'. These were almost certainly taken by photographers wishing to capture the foreign and the exotic. Photography has always challenged us to consider questions about the viewer and the viewed, the object and the subject, the passive and the active, the constructed and the truth. Making these vintage photographs the subject of my paintings is part of the narrative I’ve tried to create.
These paintings will be on show at Alternating Current ArtSpace, 248 High Street, Windsor, 3 - 25 March 2017.
List of works & images:
1. Women with long hair, after tintype in the collection of the International Centre of Photography, New York, by unknown photographer, ca. 1860-ca. 1870, 2017, oil on canvas, 92 x 92 cm.
2. Woman with back to camera, after albumen silver photograph by unknown photographer, ca. 1860, 2017, oil on canvas, 60 x 60 cm.
3. Mourning women, after albumen silver photograph in the W.M. Hunt Collection, by unknown photographer, ca. 1865, 2016, oil on canvas, 60 x 60 cm.
4. Hidden mother, after albumen silver photograph in the Lee Marks and John C. DePrez Jr collection, by unknown photographer, ca. 1860-ca. 1870, 2017, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cm.
5. Turkische Frau, after albumen silver photograph by Felix Bonflis, ca. 1870, 2017, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cm.
6. Femme Alger, after albumen carte de visite by Pierre Antoine Leonce Nesme, ca. 1878-ca. 1886, 2017, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cm.
7. Chinese brides, composite image after albumen silver photograph and glass lantern slide by unknown photographers, ca. 1870-ca. 1880, 2017, oil on canvas, 40 x40 cm.
8. Tapada Limena #1, after albumen silver carte de visite by Courret Hermanos, ca. 1870, 2017, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cm.
9. Tapada Limena #2, after albumen silver carte de visite by Courret Hermanos, ca. 1870, 2016, oil on canvas, 40 x 40 cm.
10. Tapada Limena #3, after albumen silver carte de visite by Villroy L. Richardson, ca. 1865-ca. 1875, 2016, oil on canvas, 60 x 60 cm.
11. Geisha in winter costume #1, after albumen silver photograph by unknown photographer, ca. 1870, 2016, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 cm.
12. Geisha in winter costume #2, after albumen silver photograph by Baron Raimund von Stillfried, ca. 1875, 2016, oil on canvas, 40 x 30 cm.
13. Two women, composite image after tintype by unknown photographer, ca. 1860, and salted paper print in the collection of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, by Onesipe Aguado de las Marismas, ca. 1862, 2017, oil on canvas, 76 x 122 cm.