How do artistic representations of the female body interact with a woman’s sense of self?
From now through Feb. 18, the Sugar Hill Children’s Museum presents an exhibition that aims to answer this question. In “Untold Stories: Six Women Artists in Conversation,” artists from diverse backgrounds share their untold stories — each narrative grounded in a unique perspective.
The show features the work of Alanna Fields, Olivia Jia and Ruby Sky Stiler from the United States; Mie Olise Kjærgaard from Denmark; Turiya Magadlela from South Africa; and Manuela Viera-Gallo from Chile. Curating the exhibit are Omar Lopez-Chahoud and artist-in-residence C.J Chueca.
Through their collective interest in bodily representation, the artists leverage narratives that allow them to reconsider their own identities — grappling with topics like transmigration, emotional vulnerability and visibility. The exhibition explores the role of shifting identities and communal support, expressed metaphorically by way of painting, collage and sculpture.
Fields focuses on the intersection of queerness and Blackness, putting the spotlight on early African American vernacular photography by cropping and reframing images and adding subtle layers of paint to the works. Through a vulnerable lens, her series highlights the paradox of hypervisibility and invisibility — two extremes, both problematic. “Kiss Me Make My World Fade Away” (2023) is evidence of this paradox; the golden-hour light softens the composition as the subject makes eye contact with the viewer, painted yellow lines serving as a protective barrier. Yet what are the implications of that protection?
Jia crafts psychological self-portraits founded in space and place, revealing how different aspects of history have come to form her current self. The artist paints fictional, nocturnal workspaces, complete with archival documents and books that serve as metaphors for her inner world — referencing her loved ones via portraiture. In “Star Study, Portrait of My Mother” (2023), Jia has thoughtfully re-created a school photograph of her mother as a child, arranged atop a star-filled folded paper covering a patterned hardcover book — an affectionate homage.
Kjærgaard examines the togetherness, freedom and excitement of dynamic women. By taking back the gaze, so to speak, she uses the ship as a metaphor for movement — highlighting the intricacies of the nomadic, fast-moving lifestyle she lived growing up in Scandinavia. Her subjects are active and move freely across the canvas, exuding strength at every turn.
Magadlela shines the spotlight on the fraught history of Black South African women, relying on traditionally feminine techniques: sewing, embroidery and more. Using fabrics like stockings and correctional service uniforms, she shares the personal experiences of women in her native country. Among the artist’s works are “What Happened to Lumka?” (2023) and “What Happened to Mashadi?” (2023) — nylon and cotton pantyhose on canvas collages, the fabrics stretched and restitched in a manner that resembles the female thighs and genitals in repetition. Sexual and almost violent in nature, the different shapes and shades are kaleidoscopes, telling women’s stories while positing what became of them.
Stiler crafts figurative plywood configurations that evoke moments of daily life and question gender norms. “Father with Child” (2023) and “Reclining Father with Child” (2023) reexamine the concept of fatherhood, shedding light on the challenges men face when they show their emotions or define themselves by their children. The male figures in her works are painted purple and rest intimately, while the female subject in “Standing Artist” (2023) stands in solitude, her face a featureless red-orange as she faces the viewer with a palette in hand. In Stiler’s world, men are domestic subjects, and women are intent on pursuing their passions — an experiment in gender identity.
A Chilean born in exile, Viera-Gallo focuses on her personal experience with inequality by depicting anonymous masked figures attempting to find their way. Through her paintings, she hopes to break down the patriarchal systems that hinder our civic and political welfare. Anonymity is integral to her work; the artist prefers to stay neutral as she shows the different voices challenging stereotypes around women. In “Bridge: Equality, Identities in Transit” (2023), two figures stand face to face in front of a black backdrop, their features cut off — anonymized — as eight masks seemingly float from their heads and gradually come together. The work underscores the value of embracing all beings, regardless of background, race or political affiliation.
Ultimately, “Untold Stories: Six Women Artists in Conversation” creates an open dialogue around the female body and women’s roles in society. The six artists share different global perspectives. Yet together, they push past taboos and touch on themes like memory, desire and power, highlighting contemporary victories and questioning patriarchal roles in society. Each artist acknowledges that progress remains to be made, yet contributes to the conversation around the stories we share.