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Click here to find out how to
support the International
Violence Against Women Act.
“Let Them Eat Cake” is a series of oil paintings where I use burkas and cakes as metaphors
for the mixed messages women hear.
For the last 25 years I've lived in a place populated by highly educated men and women. I love my adopted home
town. Sometimes it's hard to think of others in disparate conditions, especially when I started with nothing and worked hard to
get here and I don't care to look back and revel in my past hardships. My way is to stay optimistic and look forward.
But when I do look back, I see I had opportunity, if I looked for it. I didn't have to cover myself and go into
to school by way of a back door, or under threat of violence. If I ever encountered violence, I walked away and thrived.
I had places to go and found people who welcomed me. However, in much of the world , women are clearly oppressed
and it distresses me to see the global lethargy of letting this continue. It's not an accident that those same countries that are disproportionately mired in poverty and
driven by fundamentalism and chaos are the worst offenders of female-hate. (August '09 note: the UN has officially noticed,
the poverty stricken nations correlate, one-to-one with female oppression.)
Art not
only reflects the world, but art can shape the world.
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Act Now
- a poem to inspire
How long is the day?
Can we afford
to wait much longer?
Our time is always shorter than we think. <more>
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Click on any detail image shown below to see the full painting.
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| Detail of Alice in Wonderland- click to see full painting |
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A young child looks thoughtfully
at theremnants of the cupcake. She is fascinated by the temptation of a big cake with the words "Eat
Me" written in icing.
Full painting of 'Alice In Wonderland' is an oil on
canvas, 16 x 20" (it is
still on the easel, in progress) |
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| Detail of 'Eat Me'- click to see full painting |
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A painting of a woman in a burka siting with a cake in her lap.
The cake says Eat Me in frosting on top. This is in reference to the infamous quote "Let them eat cake!" in response
to the suffering of the people. Here, in the "Eat Me" series, it represents anyone who is not seen
or heard; who is used for someone else's gain. Full
painting of 'Eat Me' is an oil on canvas, 30 x 24" |
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| Detail of 'Where's Mine?'- click to see full painting |
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. . She
has become the cake. This is an image of powerlessness and invisibility. If she stays this way, she'll devolve to be
nothing, to have nothing left to offer anyone, even herself. There is a window or a door somewhere, but it is hard to see
her way out.Full
painting of 'Where's Mine?' is an acrylic on canvas, 30 x 24" |
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| Detail of 'Gone'' - click to see full painting |
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| Detail of "Spirit of a Woman on Black" |
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| Detail of "Spirit of a Woman on Red" |
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| Detail of 'Stepping Out' - click to see full painting |
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She kept covered and unheard. She now is nothing more than a frame holding empty dreams, a.shriveled
specter. The only choice she sees is to turn in on herself, until she is inside out.
Full painting of "Gone' is an oil
on canvas, 30 x 24"
The spirit behind the veil shows itself in many ways. You only need
to observe and care to see her.
The full paintings of
"Spirit of a Woman on Red" and "Spirit of a Woman on Black" paintings are oil on cotton canvases,
each 48 x 36".
She is inside and thinking of stepping out. She
wants to be seen and heard. Full painting
of 'Stepping Out' is an oil on canvas, 30 x 24"
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In this piece, the burka is off. She is new again. She's passed through fire and points forward, to enlightenment,
symbolized by a mountain. However, she is looking back at the symbol of her imprisonment and mulling over her wounds and the
recent struggle to get to where she is now. “Reborn” is on
a cotton canvas. I choose cotton, rather than linen for the texture, to carry a message of a bumpy life. I
combined glazing along side heavy impasto techniques, echoing the nature of all humanity. I meant to expose the human condition
as richly multi-dimensional, while trekking through thick layers of earthy needs and challenges.
Full painting of 'Reborn' is an oil
on canvas, 39 x 24" (it is still on the easel, in progress)
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| Detail of 'Audacious- click to see full painting |
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Click to see larger detail. |
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After she turns to the future and becomes one with the world, she is a fully mature woman, knowledge
and choices are now secondary to inspiration and lessons learned. She is actualized and grounded. Full painting of "Audacious" is an oil on canvas, 47
x 36"
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The story of Eat Me is deeply personal to me. I
want to expose and shed more light on the literal and metaphorical suppression and objectification of women. There are women
out there who I know NEED help to help themselves, to be the person they came into this life to be. Being aware is the first
step. Learning is the next.
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This page gives you a "peek" into the new series being painted over this
last year.
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You can see these paintings in California 10-5pm most
days
at 4030 Transport St. #J32, Palo Alto, CA 94303
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