Many female artists struggle to find a place where their opinions and voice can be heard. In a world dominated by straight white men, it can be difficult, discouraging, and feel unsafe. We’ve been looking into artists who are trying to start conversations that have been lacking elsewhere and we’ve found that the dialogue between these artists’ work is just as important.
images from Birthe Piontek’s series Lying Still
Birthe Piontek is a German artist who’s been located in Vancouver for the past ten years. She has her MFA in Photography and Communication Design. She describes her photography as “an exploration of the individual and is interested in the concept of Self.” She primarily creates portrait photographs but also works with installation and collage to investigate at to what degree identity can be visualized.
images from Grace Tyson’s book, Dedicated to Don T
The second photographer is Grace Tyson who graduated from SUNY Purchase in 2015. She’s created a few bodies of work that discuss the ideas of parental relationships vs. romantic ones and the sense of home. But most recently she’s strayed away from this with the release of her new book titled Dedicated to Don T. She says that your purchase of her book is “not only a peaceful protest against the racist, misogynistic and hateful example Trump sets for our country, but it also shows your support of young artists and their absolute right to reflect.”
left: From Her Body Sprang the Greatest Wealth, 2013; right: Over My Dead Body, 2013 by Nona Faustine
Born and raised in Brooklyn, Nona Faustine is a graduate of SVA and ICP. Her work focuses on history, identity, representation, and what it means to be a woman in the 21st century. The left image was taken at the site of a colonial slave market on Wall Street and the photo on the right was taken at the Tweed Courthouse which was built on an African burial ground.
images by Alix Pozniak
Alix Pozniak is a current student at SUNY Purchase studying Photography and Art History. She thinks a lot about the human body and it’s natural form, making both portraits and self-portraits. Most recently she’s been focusing on the relationship between men and women. Although primarily a photographer, she’s beginning to explore the way sculpture relates to photographs and wants to eventually start incorporating sculpture and installation work.
images from Scared Yoni by Elisa Garcia de la Huerta
Elisa Garcia de la Huerta is from Santiago, Chile and is an artist represented by The Untitled Space. She’s both a photographer and a performance artist and is the co-founder of a queer feminist collective called Go Push Pops.
film stills by Skyler J Maggiore
Skyler J Maggiore is an artist that graduated from SUNY Purchase this past May. Her work hints on points of femininity and sexuality. In this dual-screened video, we see her shaving her head while audio of Donald Trump speaking about his past and present opinions on abortion plays behind the buzzing of the clippers.
film stills by Caroline Levy
Caroline Levy is a current student at SUNY Purchase. Her earlier photographic work discusses the body and explored the ideas of body parts having their own individual voice. But since then she’s moved to making video and performance work. This recent work talks about gender roles and the idea of femininity being forced. She thinks a lot about the idea of becoming something because you think it’s something you have to do.
fem exposure 