Contenders: their stories today
2015
In recent years we’ve seen a growing discussion on subjects related to the world of women. That world has been examined from various points of view, some postive, others negative. Much of the discourse about women and their experience has focused on female underrepresentation, whether political, cultural, or professional. While some things have changed, women in the 21st century still have to struggle for basic rights. We have the example of Malala Yousafzai, struggling for the right to an education in Pakistan; UN Women organizing to end the domestic violence that affects as many as one in three women worldwide; Miles Chile and other feminist organizations in Chile trying to legalize abortion; and millions of individuals insisting on equal pay for equal work, manifesting their right to breastfeed babies in public, or generating new standards of beauty that don’t endanger women’s health. And what about these women who, in their everyday life, struggle day after day in silence to create change? These are the women I have decided to paint. These are the story I have chosen to tell.
Contenders is a portrait project in oils. It tells the stories of women from around the world who are part of my life. They have confronted situations where being a woman has determined their place in the world.
To be a woman in Canada is very different from being a woman in Vietnam, Japan, Venezuela, Belgium or Chile. Each of these countries is working on the political aspect of gender issues in its own way, affected by the interest of the general public and religious and dogmatic pressures.
Each painting in Contenders shows a story, represented through colours, textures and forms in the background. Each painting displays a colour palette that intensifies the story of the woman portrayed. The colours relate to the internal world of each of these fighters. Each background is a declaration of singularity, something that accompanies their stories. The unity between Contenders is the use of cloud-like hair, meant to give each an aspect of divinity, to place them in the universe.
Who are these women? They are women who have guided me on the road of life. Some are lifelong companions, others acquaintances from the daily routine. They are mothers, grandmothers, sisters, friends, artists, scientists, writers, dancers, students, sociologists, but above all, they are fighters, they are my women. They are Chi, Ana, Lucía Constanza, Kanako, Dahlia, Cynthia, Ona, Lucy, Mitzi, Irene, Ana, Stacey, Céline and Agustina.
