The Marks Of Womanhood Collection

Portraits from India

Appreciate the beauty of ethnic Indian diversity through traditional attire, cultural symbols and portraiture – definitions of collective identity. These fictitious portraits of traditional Indian women were originally created using charcoal, pen, ink, and enhanced using digital imaging. Inspired by the artist’s personal visits to rural communities in India, each portrait anchors connections to heritage, memory and storytelling. The womens’ confronting and empowering gaze both challenges and raises awareness of gender and ethnic stereotypes of female passivity and objectification. Each portrait – with their absence of context – time, place and personal histories, makes room for viewers to tell their own tales of empowered women, particularly from underrepresented communities.