While buying the mannequins I used as armatures for The Ladies Series at a yard sale, the seller paused before taking my money.
“How are you going to use them?”
“Some kind of art, I think.”
“Respectful?”
“Yes, beautiful if I can. Why?”
“Because 20 minutes ago this guy was buying them when he said - ‘Oh, boy, these will be great for target practice!’ I snatched the money right out of his hand and said - NO DEAL!”
Some of my men friends say, these are the best art work I’ve ever done. Some group shows have not allowed me to show them because “children might see them.” They were featured on the walls of our local Theatrical Society theater for the Winter Solstice Celebration - - A Children’s Show. My mentor suggested I should show them in galleries that might have a lesbian clientele.
What strange responses. My first ideas on building this series of thirteen women were foggy - something about beauty, detail, a dichotomy between appearance & objectification vs. internal experience... how women are perceived as opposed to how they feel.
These Ladies are created with gradual layerings of papers and a variety of resins. Each Lady is hand built in progressive layers. They are painted with combinations of mixed media, collage, assemblage.
I am continually intrigued with abundance of detail, color and texture. I strive for realism in faces in contrast to the tightly interwoven patterns and color tones carefully balanced to vibrate deeply with each other.
I never expected the reaction to The Ladies to play out as it did in a real life history of the artwork. Now I’ve become fascinated with the continuing reaction to - and the story of this work.