Paintings That Refute The Passive, Coy, Sexy Female Portrait

Images are vehicles for the teaching of history and it is the historical imagery of the female gender I aim to counterbalance.

This series’ intent is to rebel against the traditional portrayal of doll-like women of the 17th-19th centuries, when women were painted in lavish interior settings belonging to their husbands or fathers. Women were decorations – another piece of property among other furnishings. Their value derived from their beauty. Their purpose for the viewing pleasure of another.

Still, even with the distance of a few hundred years, women continue to struggle with being viewed as less than equal to their male counterparts, evidenced by the continued battle for equal pay, equal rights, and equal opportunity. I aim to contradict the flood of hyper-sexualized images of women bombarding society on a daily basis by creating female portraits that emulate strength, power, and aggression; characteristics I feel do and should pertain to women as much as men. As a creator of imagery, I endeavor to construct a new visual representation of the female gender in hopes that it transcends beyond the visual arts and into what you see when you look at a woman, and what a woman sees when she looks at herself.

More info: lisakrannichfeld.com