Original Art Piece
Ink, acrylic, natural-dyed linen, palo santo on raw canvas.
44x44"
Inspired by Allie Michelle’s original poem, A Poem for My Ancestors, this piece focuses on the sentiment behind the following lines: “I felt generations of women who were the invisible hands weaving their husbands dreams/ silently praying that one day they might get to live on their own.”
Using the imagery of basket-weaving that has shown up in the artist’s previous collection, Hold, the idea of women contributing to the successful futures of their husbands and partners appears to be another aspect of invisible “woman’s work” as the art of basket-weaving and other craft-based work historically falls to women, along with managing the family's schedule and maintaining the household. Women are known for having to walk a careful line between maintaining a home/work life balance that male counterparts don’t often have to experience.
The artist incorporated a basket weave pattern of 100% linen strips that were dyed in avocado skins in reference to the “woman’s work” of craft, home-making and cooking.
Both subtle and obvious messages taken from Allie Michelle’s poem are scrawled across these linen strips ("generations of women who were the invisible hands, weaving their husbands dreams, silently praying that one day they might get to live on their own") to reference the often quiet, desperate whispers and cries uttered by our women ancestors to one another.
These woven ribbons begin to loosen, ripple and fall apart as they culminate at the center of the canvas in reference to the new generation of independent women who no longer find themselves in the same positions of having to support their partners (either because they’re unwed and single, or because they find themselves in supportive and balanced partnership) and instead, are now able to weave the patterns of their own dreams.
Despite the empowering message behind Allie Michelle’s words, there’s an undertone of sadness in the way she acknowledges her current state of independence is entirely owed to the generations of women who came before her who sacrificed their own dreams for the benefit of their families. Imagery of candles with flames that appear to have been snuffed out with heavy smoke (created with palo santo) pay homage to the women who sacrificed so much.
Splashes of blue suggest the turmoil (and eventual triumph) our women ancestors endured while trying to hold onto themselves while also being in service to their families. The new generation of women Allie Michelle references have the privilege and opportunity to live life on their own terms, with or without a family, because now they have a choice.
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The VOICES (That’s What She Said) collection is a celebration of the way women have used their words and voices to empower themselves and others.
Generations
2,420.00
Mixed media
