My work epitomizes a century of women combatting beauty ideals, stereotypes, and those against the betterment of civil rights. Both a journey through time and struggles, each piece makes known a certain decade's specific struggle beginning in the year 1900 until modern day. As the idea evolved, so did the subject matter: first soulful portraits, then symbolic objects. Every detail, figure and background communicates the common theme that society's view of women's beauty and roles have changed vastly through time.
At the beginning of my body of work, women are considered more appealing when they are obedient home-makers. I challenged the audience to journey down the rocky path of women's rights as women progressively questioned their place in the world through the depth of portraits, as well as collage, background, and symbolic elements. This is shown through pieces 2 and 3, in which the women began questioning their predetermined place—the wooden spoon is representative of the life as a homemaker, though the woman in it can not quite abandon it completely, she hides it behind her as a sign of rebellion. In the 4th piece, the figure is completely in charge of taking the money made for her household to make ends meet through the Great Depression. The 6th and 8th pieces, focus on the affect certain societal beliefs and household beliefs affect the way women grew up, through subjective products and lifelong experience. The 7th piece was designed to portray the growth of materialism pointed towards women as they began to develop their sense of individuality. As the concentration continues, it develops into the positive portrayal of women making choices for themselves, including my own personal decisions. With time, women begin choosing careers over families, and in the end they get the choice to decide what path or role makes them the happiest.
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