




THE MAIDEN AND DEATH
2016
This project illustrates autonomous female sexuality as inspired by 18th and 19th-century European literature. By examining the symbolism and imagery in narratives that still resonate in contemporary culture I aim to distill personal meaning through a close-reading and visual translation of various elements within these texts. Art and literature are equal partners in cultural expression, and all forms of expression are self-portraiture.
Just as the past informs the future, the present changes the way we see the past. Art is a mirror to society and so it is the art-makers responsibility to produce images in reaction to the issues that affect us. Victorian literature was symbolic of the time, but in many ways is more applicable now than ever. These classic stories permeate our consciousness, they are told and retold and are continually informing our collective memory. My goal is to visually reimagine the stories in canonical literature highlighting through a personal lens issues of subject versus object, hunter versus prey, and dominion over passivity in the archetypal female.