WomanDance: Invoking the Divine Feminineis a collection of images of modern female belly dancers. By performing in public, these women -- most of whom are not professional dancers and who represent all sizes, shapes and ages -- have risked the ridicule and harsh judgement of a culture that insists that to be acceptable, female dancers conform to our "ideal" standard of beauty. In exchange for their courage, the women represented in these images have been richly rewarded -- they have re-kindled our connection with the sacred lineage of temple priestesses of the ancient world, who danced not to entertain men, but rather to invoke the power of the Goddess.
Inside the The Glass Box explores the function of fashion mannequins as a reflection of the social status and psychological state of women in contemporary American culture. Since mannequins can be crafted with any facial expression that the industry chooses, what does it say about our culture's concept of ideal femininity that the expressions most often found on the faces of mannequins suggest sadness, anger, depression and dissociation?
BirthDance: Life, Light & Water is a series of light and water abstractions representing the primal connection between the cycles of the planets and the female reproductive cycle.
Mary is a work-in-progress series inspired by the life of Mary Magdalene. Portrayed in mainstream Biblical history as merely a prostitute who was "saved" by Jesus, contemporary femininst spirituality reinterprets Mary as the wife, lover and spiritual equal of Christ. Perhaps most significantly, as the suppressed symbol of the lost Divine Feminine, Mary Magdalene is believed by many to be the true "Holy Grail" of Western Civilization. tn.jpg)
Women of Myth is a work-in-progress series illustrating archetypal elements from classic fairy tales and myths that feature female heroines -- from ancient goddess myths to the Brothers Grimm to contemporary classics like The Wizard of Oz.
See a special preview piece from "Women of Myth" at:
Owings-Dewey North
120 Marcy Street,
Santa Fe, NM 87501
"Explorations in the Garden of Good & Evil", Opening reception, Friday, Oct 31, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Survivor is a work-in-progress series that documents my personal healing journey. I grew up in New Mexico, but as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, I avoided returning to New Mexico for many years as a result of the horrific associations I had with the state. When I did return, I was surprised to discover that the harsh beauty of New Mexico was a catalyst in my healing -- as a child of this unforgiving environment, I too had in me both beauty and resiliency. "Survivor" is an ongoing series of images taken close to my childhood home as part of this journey -- each image contains within it a fundamental juxtaposition of texture, tone or content, mirroring the paradox that New Mexico represents for me -- life and death, beauty and ugliness, anger and forgiveness.