42 Wayne

These images, titled 42 Wayne, work to explore 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 an observer. 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 find my voice, and use photography to communicate beliefs and personal, familial history amongst my mother and two younger sisters. Making these images was a way to spend more time together, even if it was painful or unpleasant. 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. I feel tempted to allow there to be an intimacy between my subjects and myself, a faith that enables us each to be vulnerable to another in the photo making process. The women that populate these images come together as a world of women, unified by lived experiences and a yearning for closeness. These images mean celebrating flaws and bringing awareness to an emotional burden some may carry in hopes that my viewers can relate to the females I collaborate with. I want there to be 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. I use personal experiences, being female from a close-knit family of women, while photography becomes my mediator.