SARA GOLISH | BIRDS OF PARADISE
January 14 – April 11, 2020
Toronto-based artist Sara Golish questions the symbolism of conventional oil portraiture through a lens of eco-feminism by depicting traditionally oppressed bodies with dignity and grace in her Birds of Paradise series. Golish breathes new life into the traditional canon of early modern portraiture, where affluent women were presented in ways that spoke more to men’s accumulation of wealth and status than to any representation of their own identities. If women of color appeared, they were rendered as servants and exotic curiosities to demonstrate the imperial reach of aristocratic power and wealth. Birds of Paradise is about liberating not just the subject from the patriarchal grasp, but also the form, techniques and materials from their historical usage and symbolism. Golish fills her portraits with ethnically diverse female subjects in bold colors, as well as exotic birds and plants that symbolize strength through adversity and fortitude of spirit.
the work:
SARA GOLISH | BIRDS OF PARADISE
January 14 – April 11, 2020
Toronto-based artist Sara Golish questions the symbolism of conventional oil portraiture through a lens of eco-feminism by depicting traditionally oppressed bodies with dignity and grace in her Birds of Paradise series. Golish breathes new life into the traditional canon of early modern portraiture, where affluent women were presented in ways that spoke more to men’s accumulation of wealth and status than to any representation of their own identities. If women of color appeared, they were rendered as servants and exotic curiosities to demonstrate the imperial reach of aristocratic power and wealth. Birds of Paradise is about liberating not just the subject from the patriarchal grasp, but also the form, techniques and materials from their historical usage and symbolism. Golish fills her portraits with ethnically diverse female subjects in bold colors, as well as exotic birds and plants that symbolize strength through adversity and fortitude of spirit.
the work:
SARA GOLISH | BIRDS OF PARADISE
January 14 – April 11, 2020
Toronto-based artist Sara Golish questions the symbolism of conventional oil portraiture through a lens of eco-feminism by depicting traditionally oppressed bodies with dignity and grace in her Birds of Paradise series. Golish breathes new life into the traditional canon of early modern portraiture, where affluent women were presented in ways that spoke more to men’s accumulation of wealth and status than to any representation of their own identities. If women of color appeared, they were rendered as servants and exotic curiosities to demonstrate the imperial reach of aristocratic power and wealth. Birds of Paradise is about liberating not just the subject from the patriarchal grasp, but also the form, techniques and materials from their historical usage and symbolism. Golish fills her portraits with ethnically diverse female subjects in bold colors, as well as exotic birds and plants that symbolize strength through adversity and fortitude of spirit.
the work:
SARA GOLISH | BIRDS OF PARADISE
January 14 – April 11, 2020
Toronto-based artist Sara Golish questions the symbolism of conventional oil portraiture through a lens of eco-feminism by depicting traditionally oppressed bodies with dignity and grace in her Birds of Paradise series. Golish breathes new life into the traditional canon of early modern portraiture, where affluent women were presented in ways that spoke more to men’s accumulation of wealth and status than to any representation of their own identities. If women of color appeared, they were rendered as servants and exotic curiosities to demonstrate the imperial reach of aristocratic power and wealth. Birds of Paradise is about liberating not just the subject from the patriarchal grasp, but also the form, techniques and materials from their historical usage and symbolism. Golish fills her portraits with ethnically diverse female subjects in bold colors, as well as exotic birds and plants that symbolize strength through adversity and fortitude of spirit.
the work:
SARA GOLISH | BIRDS OF PARADISE
January 14 – April 11, 2020
Toronto-based artist Sara Golish questions the symbolism of conventional oil portraiture through a lens of eco-feminism by depicting traditionally oppressed bodies with dignity and grace in her Birds of Paradise series. Golish breathes new life into the traditional canon of early modern portraiture, where affluent women were presented in ways that spoke more to men’s accumulation of wealth and status than to any representation of their own identities. If women of color appeared, they were rendered as servants and exotic curiosities to demonstrate the imperial reach of aristocratic power and wealth. Birds of Paradise is about liberating not just the subject from the patriarchal grasp, but also the form, techniques and materials from their historical usage and symbolism. Golish fills her portraits with ethnically diverse female subjects in bold colors, as well as exotic birds and plants that symbolize strength through adversity and fortitude of spirit.
the work:
VOICE LESSONS | ELI CORBIN, FRAN GARDNER, LISA STROUD AND BEAU WILD
January 19 – April 11, 2020
opening reception Sunday, January 19, 2020 | 1 – 3 pm | free for members/$20 for non-members
Lisa Stroud, Fran Gardner, Beau Wild + Eli Corbin | photo by Shana Dry
Focusing on issues women have dealt with for centuries, Voice Lessons is a multi-media visual-arts narrative of women’s lives — the strength, tenacity and courage demonstrated by our mothers, sisters, daughters and friends. Shifting the dialogue toward empowerment, the art of four female artists, Eli Corbin (Asheville, NC), Fran Gardner (Heath Springs, SC), Lisa Stroud (Cary, NC) and Beau Wild (Port Orange, FL), illustrates the multi-dimensional reality of womanhood — as intelligent and sexual and as powerful and feminine, with emotional range. Voice Lessons encourages tolerance, empathy and compassion among women and men, as it draws together the struggle, strength, vulnerability, individuality and community of the female experience.
Eli Corbin incorporates pattern and symbolism to evoke the strength and power available to women through connection with community, nature, spirituality and belief in self.
Fran Gardner combines oil painting with stitchery, traditionally a female art form, to spotlight the voices of women in the slippery cultural and political landscape.
Lisa Stroud tells her stories of feminine empowerment on canvas, using “the little black dress” as her bantering, sometimes whimsical, narrator.
Beau Wild uses the concept of masking to explore the degree to which women reveal or obscure themselves as they navigate the world.
SARA GOLISH | BIRDS OF PARADISE
January 14 – April 11, 2020
Toronto-based artist Sara Golish questions the symbolism of conventional oil portraiture through a lens of eco-feminism by depicting traditionally oppressed bodies with dignity and grace in her Birds of Paradise series. Golish breathes new life into the traditional canon of early modern portraiture, where affluent women were presented in ways that spoke more to men’s accumulation of wealth and status than to any representation of their own identities. If women of color appeared, they were rendered as servants and exotic curiosities to demonstrate the imperial reach of aristocratic power and wealth. Birds of Paradise is about liberating not just the subject from the patriarchal grasp, but also the form, techniques and materials from their historical usage and symbolism. Golish fills her portraits with ethnically diverse female subjects in bold colors, as well as exotic birds and plants that symbolize strength through adversity and fortitude of spirit.
the work:
VOICE LESSONS | ELI CORBIN, FRAN GARDNER, LISA STROUD AND BEAU WILD
January 19 – April 11, 2020
opening reception Sunday, January 19, 2020 | 1 – 3 pm | free for members/$20 for non-members
Lisa Stroud, Fran Gardner, Beau Wild + Eli Corbin | photo by Shana Dry
Focusing on issues women have dealt with for centuries, Voice Lessons is a multi-media visual-arts narrative of women’s lives — the strength, tenacity and courage demonstrated by our mothers, sisters, daughters and friends. Shifting the dialogue toward empowerment, the art of four female artists, Eli Corbin (Asheville, NC), Fran Gardner (Heath Springs, SC), Lisa Stroud (Cary, NC) and Beau Wild (Port Orange, FL), illustrates the multi-dimensional reality of womanhood — as intelligent and sexual and as powerful and feminine, with emotional range. Voice Lessons encourages tolerance, empathy and compassion among women and men, as it draws together the struggle, strength, vulnerability, individuality and community of the female experience.
Eli Corbin incorporates pattern and symbolism to evoke the strength and power available to women through connection with community, nature, spirituality and belief in self.
Fran Gardner combines oil painting with stitchery, traditionally a female art form, to spotlight the voices of women in the slippery cultural and political landscape.
Lisa Stroud tells her stories of feminine empowerment on canvas, using “the little black dress” as her bantering, sometimes whimsical, narrator.
Beau Wild uses the concept of masking to explore the degree to which women reveal or obscure themselves as they navigate the world.
SARA GOLISH | BIRDS OF PARADISE
January 14 – April 11, 2020
Toronto-based artist Sara Golish questions the symbolism of conventional oil portraiture through a lens of eco-feminism by depicting traditionally oppressed bodies with dignity and grace in her Birds of Paradise series. Golish breathes new life into the traditional canon of early modern portraiture, where affluent women were presented in ways that spoke more to men’s accumulation of wealth and status than to any representation of their own identities. If women of color appeared, they were rendered as servants and exotic curiosities to demonstrate the imperial reach of aristocratic power and wealth. Birds of Paradise is about liberating not just the subject from the patriarchal grasp, but also the form, techniques and materials from their historical usage and symbolism. Golish fills her portraits with ethnically diverse female subjects in bold colors, as well as exotic birds and plants that symbolize strength through adversity and fortitude of spirit.
the work: