ANONYMOUS WOMAN: DRAPED
“Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain,” commanded the Wizard of Oz, a small, ordinary person hiding behind a curtain pulling strings, levers, and other apparatus creating the illusion of power.
Many women find themselves in this position, silently and powerfully running a home and family, creating beauty and order from chaos, but unnoticed by the outer world, the people around them, or even themselves. Yet, obsessing and perfecting the home and its accoutrements often shape the identity of many of us (not only women.) Perfecting a space with objects or décor becomes so central that one’s identity becomes fused with it to the point of invisibility.
As a woman artist, I am confronting emotional issues of hiding, comfort, and safety; how the home environment is a place of perfection, yet decoration can camouflage one’s individuality to the point of claustrophobia. The draperies and objects in these photographs act as both a visual cue as well as a literal interpretation of over-identification/obsession.
I believe everyone has a hidden identity formed by personal traditions, memories, and ideas that are cloaked from the outer world. Cultivating these inner psychological, emotional and intellectual worlds is perhaps our greatest challenge as people, wherever we come from or wherever we live.