Women's Work

Ink and watercolor on paper

2022

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This new body of work examines the idea of scarcity as it relates to the monetary value of art, the invisible labor often performed by artists, and how that unacknowledged effort mirrors that of women (primarily) laboring in the home and taking care of children.

A photographer by training, I became interested in the hierarchy of value within the art world – in both its perceived rules and more arbitrary practices. For example, paintings are generally regarded as more valuable than photographs, and it’s their perceived uniqueness -- the artist’s hand -- that adds value.

 

Applying this thinking to my own work, I created unique brushes in photoshop and began digitally painting on top of my photographs, using only the image itself as the canvas. The result, when printed on paper, has the effect of a real watercolor — precious, and one of a kind. The difference between the original photograph and the reinterpretation is a meticulous series of strokes changing the opacity of a layer on top of the photograph. After completing the digital work, I create a print on watercolor paper and add painted media by hand, further subverting the traditional photographic process.

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