Reclaiming the Muse

In my staged miniature photography series, RECLAIMING THE MUSE, I examine familiar muses from past artworks, stories, and myths, setting them in contemporary scenes to reframe them from passive objects of beauty or scorn to active and powerful heroines.

In my series, RECLAIMING THE MUSE, I reframe historic artworks and stories in contemporary terms to challenge the dominant doctrine of the patriarchal culture through an intersectional feminist lens. When centering women, historically cast as objects of beauty or scorn, I aim to revitalize the muse with agency, furthering the issues important to me as a contemporary female artist in my contemporary Western society. I also challenge narrow views of sexuality which operate to oppress and limit the broad nature of identity, self-expression and attraction. My muses flip the script, taking back their power to tell their own stories.

With a deceptively playful overlay, I explore mythos, identity, gender roles, and empowerment.  Although I never depict actual people in my photographs, the human psyche is undeniably at the center of my work. I am fascinated by the psychological landscape, our search for meaning and the contradictions of human existence. So many stories, myths and artworks throughout history address these same concerns. I have found much rich source material to inspire my own interpretations for this series.

Of course, creating variations and reinterpretations of past tales and depictions is not a novel idea, but rather an age-old tradition, practiced throughout art history. There is a rich well to draw upon from historical representations. Many of the old tales are fiction, and it is far past time for the retelling.