Media
Reclaiming The Muse by Grace Weston
all about photo
Nov 13, 2023
Part of the exclusive online showroom developed by All About Photo, this exhibition is on view for the month of November 2023 and includes twelve photographs from the series ‘RECLAIMING THE MUSE’
Curator: Ann Jastrab, Executive Director, Center for Photographic Art
RECLAIMING THE MUSE
Patriarchy has controlled the narrative for 10,000 years. My staged miniature photography series, RECLAIMING THE MUSE, reframes historic artworks and stories in contemporary terms. In centering women, historically cast as objects of beauty or scorn, I strive to revitalize the muse with agency, furthering the issues important to me as a contemporary female artist.
Mythos, power dynamics, gender roles, liberation, empowerment, and self-preservation are explored in this series, all with a deceptively playful overlay. Although I never depict actual people in my photographs, the human psyche is undeniably at the center of my work. I am fascinated by the psychological landscape, our search for meaning and the contradictions of human existence. So many stories, myths and artworks throughout history address these same concerns. I have found much rich source material to inspire my own interpretations for this series.
In my research, time and time again, the women in myths, folk tales, the Bible, and elsewhere are held responsible for causing both the world’s ills and the failings of men. This includes their own rapes, which are recounted in mythology with shocking frequency, and are always deemed the woman’s fault, justifying her inevitable punishment. Of course, creating variations and reinterpretations of past tales and depictions is not a novel idea, but rather an age-old tradition, practiced throughout art history. My muses take back their power and tell their own stories. There is a rich well to draw upon from historical representations. We must remember, the old tales are fiction, and it is far past time for the retelling.
This series is ongoing.
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