Conversations With Myself
Over the past decade I devoted myself to creating the body of work called Conversations with Myself. During the process, I clarified and deepened my understanding of who I am, and how that understanding shaped my current relationships with myself and the world at large.
This ten-year series encompasses the “coming of age” crusade I embarked upon in my sixties with a great sense of urgency. I embraced my sense of adventure, curiosity, humor and sensitivity, all of which have fueled my artistic life.
The process of self-inquiry through self-portraiture revealed not only what I had inherited but what was also embedded in me and our cultural belief system of a “womanhood” imperative, based on the 1950’s version of femininity.
Each image is a psychological and physical immersion probing what it means to be a woman. Vintage dresses and household objects were significant tools that layered the past onto the present as I worked to find my place within it. Eventually and with continued determination, I moved beyond the domestic environment and engaged with the natural world, exploring a greater realm of possibilities.
While juggling the domestic roles of nurturer, wife and mother, alongside the self-pursuant roles of artist and individual, creating this work has allowed me to visualize a life shaped by my authentic self rather than by inherited expectations.
Conversations with Myself is a declaration of courage, confidence and independence. I hope this series serves as an inspiration to others--an invitation to look honestly at the past, question its hold, and to move forward with a truer sense of self.
