42 Wayne (working title)

  • Dates
    2016 - Ongoing
  • Author
  • Locations United States, Connecticut, Massachusetts

42 Wayne explores the notion of experience as touch and emotional and physical endurance performed through female bodies. Witnessed events, staged performances, and instinct serves to seek new intimacies between me and my subjects. Texture and surface become essential in relaying information about the individuals' conditions, whether physical or psychological. Physical sensations sourced from past experiences show up in subtle details that reveal exposed skin, pressed bodies, and the simple observation of physical form concerning others in space. Inherited beliefs of misogyny and expectations concerning gender serve as an entry point to this body of work.

The images are made without a single formula. They serve as a response and allow me to be a part of the performances rather than just observe. I began making these photos in response to political events and movements around me in 2016. I wanted to bring them into my home to help myself work through personal trauma. I began using photography to communicate beliefs and personal, familial history amongst my mother and two younger sisters. The name of the body of work comes from the address of my mom's first home, where she and my sisters lived after my parents separated. My subjects grew from my mother and sisters to other women I've met in passing or online. Each photograph I make feels like a gift, something I receive from my subjects because of mutual trust. The women that populate these images come together as a world of women, unified by lived experiences and a yearning for closeness. I hope to celebrate our flaws and platonic intimacy while bringing awareness to an emotional weight some may carry. The photos act as a meditation on how we interact with one another, reflecting on touch and gesture, to give these subtle details more time and consideration. Body language and how we interact with one another are influential in how we learn about the world. There are beliefs woven into the gestures we perform, inherited from one another, that lie amongst the quotidian. Simple interactions we repeat and observe, performed by our mothers, grandmothers, and sisters.

© Jillian Freyer - Lily Spit, 2020
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Lily Spit, 2020

© Jillian Freyer - Aiyana and Elizabeth, 2020
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Aiyana and Elizabeth, 2020

© Jillian Freyer - Emi, 2019
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Emi, 2019

© Jillian Freyer - Judy at the Baby Shower, 2019
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Judy at the Baby Shower, 2019

© Jillian Freyer - Sisters, 2020
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Sisters, 2020

© Jillian Freyer - Aiyana, 2020
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Aiyana, 2020

© Jillian Freyer - Three Women, 2018
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Three Women, 2018

© Jillian Freyer - Laundry, 2019
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Laundry, 2019

© Jillian Freyer - Drag, 2018
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Drag, 2018

© Jillian Freyer - Bathing Girls, 2020
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Bathing Girls, 2020

© Jillian Freyer - Emmalee, 2020
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Emmalee, 2020

© Jillian Freyer - Sadie's Legs, 2019
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Sadie's Legs, 2019

© Jillian Freyer - Healing #1, 2019
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Healing #1, 2019

© Jillian Freyer - Sadie, 2019
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Sadie, 2019

© Jillian Freyer - After Arlo, 2019
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After Arlo, 2019

© Jillian Freyer - Cleansing, 2020
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Cleansing, 2020

© Jillian Freyer - Queen Ann, 2020
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Queen Ann, 2020

© Jillian Freyer - Julie, 2020
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Julie, 2020

© Jillian Freyer - Healing #2, 2019
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Healing #2, 2019

© Jillian Freyer - Morgane, 2020
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Morgane, 2020

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