LOVE LETTERS
This collection of new drawings is an ode to love letters women used to write in secret to one another. The depiction of orchids is a nod to the violet flower, historically used as a visual code for love between queer women. The association of queer women and the violet reaches back to Sappho, a poet in ancient Greece, who wrote about desire and love between women. Letters, much like drawings, are a tactile representation of passion, love and connection.
My interest in orchids is multifaceted; they are one of the largest families of flowering plants and relatives of mine have published books and illustrations of many different varieties of orchids. Interest in plants runs deep in my family. From a technical point of view, I endeavor to capture the shapes and weight of the flowers using stippling and light cross hatching, which has been challenging but very enjoyable.
I am also exploring women just being - not posing, not performing, not responding to, or affected by, the male gaze. I feel that most visual representations of women are them being seen in relation to men, we are the sidekicks, the sexual object, the plot filler, the character builder - we are the virgin and the whore. Though these are not new themes to my work, they are themes that as I draw and grow take on different and deeper meanings. In terms of drawing the human figure, there is always something new to learn and explore.
