Two of my artworks will be on display as part of a show about “Persistence” at the Museum of Northern California Art. (see the bottom of this post for venue details)
Colleen Wampole
Hello, my name is feminine rage (whatever it takes)
oil on canvas, diptych
left: 23.5” h, 16” w; right: 23.5” h, 36” w
2013
$650
Artist statement:
Comparing how several artists depict a similar topic over the centuries can be revealing. In this diptych, I refer to seven artists’ renderings of biblical stories of women who cause a man’s beheading. The comparison becomes less about how well each artist represents the story as written, and more about speculating what each artwork tells us about the artist (or their patron). In its bare essentials, they include a woman and a man’s severed head. Her motivations and character vary wildly between artists. Why does she want this? What attitudes about women can be extrapolated from these images? Is she a femme fatale, a pawn, or a human with agency? The images and probable motives are not nice, but nice is not the same as good. Nice is merely inoffensive. What things do women need enough to risk being offensive?
We all need role models (e.g. Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, Judith Leyster, and Marie Denise Villers)
watercolor on paper
art: 10.5” h, 14” w; frame: 20” h, 24.25” w
2014
$550
Artist statement:
I studied and created art for years before I realized that there was something incongruous about being a female artist who could name only a handful of women artists. As I researched role models, I pondered why it mattered so much to me to know that women created art (even if it rarely ended up in museums or art history books). What does it mean if artists like me are nearly invisible within the core canon? What precisely is the difference when a woman’s portrait is executed by a woman or a man? This watercolor set of paper dolls (based on portraits by women) marks the beginning of a series of paintings that combines pop culture and fine art. Some of the other sets feature women in politics, girl bands, women of color, and Disney princesses.
Show details
where:
monca, 900 Esplanade, Chico, California
when:
Thursday – Sunday, 11 AM – 5 PM
May 31 – July 15, 2018
cost:
$5 admission
(free for students/children)
Colleen Wampole 