Relaxed and In Power - Fransheska Larios

Ways of seeing

1. “To be born a woman has been to be born, within an allotted and confined space, into the keeping of men. The social presence of women has developed as a result of their ingenuity in living under such tutelage within such a limited space.”

2. “In the art-form of the European nude, the painters and spectator-owners were usually men and the persons treated as objects, usually women. This unequal relationship is so deeply embedded in our culture that it still structures the consciousness of many women.”

Understanding Patriarchy 

1. “As their daughter, I was taught that it was my role to serve, to be weak, to be free from the burden of thinking, to caretake and nurture others. My brother was taught that it was his role to be served; to provide; to be strong; to think, strategize, and plan; and to refuse to caretake and nurture others.”

2. Keeping males and females from telling the truth about what happens to them in families is one-way Patriarchal culture is maintained.”

The Oppositional Gaze

1. “Since I knew as a child that the dominating power adults exercised over me and over my gaze was never so absolute that I did not dare to look, to sneak a peak, to stare dangerously, I knew that the slaves had looked. That all attempts to repress our/black peoples’ right to gaze had produced in us an overwhelming longing to look, a rebellious desire, an oppositional gaze.” 

2. “Not only will I stare. I want my look to change reality.”

The Photographed, Collaged and Painted Muses of Mickalene Thomas

1. “Thomas’s jazzy photomontages of women’s limbs and facial features can be construed as commentary on how female bodies are brutally picked apart in contemporary visual culture. But the social commentary in her work is never heavy-handed or preachy; her approach throughout is both playful and political.”

2. “By selecting women of color, I am quite literally raising their visibility and inserting their presence into the conversation,”

Overlooked No More: Ana Mendieta, a Cuban Artist Who Pushed Boundaries

1. She urged viewers to disregard their gender, race or other defining societal factors and instead connect with the humanity they share with others.

2. It is a way of reclaiming my roots and becoming one with nature. Although the culture in which I live is part of me, my roots and cultural identity are a result of my Cuban heritage.”