Botanicals
2016 / 2019
In this series, I am exploring female identity.
My images begin with anonymous 19th-century tintypes, which I scan and alter. The names I give each woman are from that era as well.
Several events occurred during the 19th century. Tintypes became the first means of recording one’s image that was affordable for the masses. Darwin’s work in biological determination helped fuel the belief that men were the superior sex. A woman’s role was as wife and mother and she was confined to the home.
This was also the beginning of the Women’s Suffrage Movement
Botany and Botanical illustration were some of the few past times acceptable for women to study.
“Although women were not encouraged to take up botany as a profession, members of the elite class considered the practice of illustrating and studying plants a moralizing pursuit and a means of natural theology-- a celebration of the greatness of God through the study and contemplation of His creations.” (Sarah Horne 2016)
Flowers have their own language. Beauty, desire, love, birth, death… Each of my images tells a story. The common thread is that my women are strong and determined to survive and break barriers. My wish is for the viewer to take a moment and think about what they are seeing. This is the past sending us a warning about our future.
Archival Digital Prints-Edition of 10-19.5”x16” $950.