A Woman of a Certain Age

The descriptor, “a woman of a certain age” can be found in the English language dating back to the eighteenth century when it was used to sometimes politely refer (and sometimes not so politely refer) to a spinster or to a woman who was no longer of child-bearing age. The latter being the cutting designation which pointed to the surest sign that a woman had most certainly aged. More recently, the phrase is often coyly delivered in regard to a woman’s middle or upward age and is suggestive of her diminished appearance, and consequently of her degraded value. But even worse is its too common use as a contemptuous, unspoken, systemic branding whereby she is unequivocally and categorically labeled for dismissal or disposal– all due to her having surpassed a culturally imposed “use-by date”.

As my artwork often begins from an autobiographical place and I myself am now considered “a woman of a certain age”, this collection of works began rather organically. My artistic process is typically intuitive; I spend a lot of time playing with fibers, detritus and light. Materials, storied objects, and their juxtaposition have always been inseparable from the metaphor and meaning of my work. That’s very much the case with my recent affinity for sewing constructions of the humble, household medium of wax paper. Certainly, wax paper’s inherent fragility, translucency, disposability, yet protective and ethereal constitution somehow poetically embodies the richness and complexity of “a woman of a certain age”.

In a popular culture where all that is shiny, superfluous, and youthful is more easily elevated and commodified, the sculptural narratives of this project have become my personal action toward lifting the deep, dark shadow of systemic obsolescence that is too often forcibly cast onto women of a certain age. And, although some of the pieces are delivered as tongue-in-cheek commentary, all of the works are meant to celebrate the fortitude, virtue, and rightful stature of the mature female figures around us. Rather than acting as mere statements of admonition, these artworks are intent on provoking sincere and transformative dialogue amongst viewers of all ages, genders, and identity. It’s my genuine hope that this body of work inspires healthy reflection and honest conversation on female formative development, mid-life, aging, the vital roles of matriarch and caregiver, as well as, the agelessness of female sexuality, beauty, power and purpose.

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