six 7” x 5” pieces, watercolor and collage, 2023
I made this collection of paintings for my final project in the course “Philosophy of Love and Sex” at Carleton College. The question this project addresses is: “what does it mean to love women in a patriarchal society (or rather, a society that does not actively socialize us to love women)?” The works are grouped into sets of two by the color of their borders, one painting and one collage per set. Each set explores a different theme relating to the project’s guiding question, and the collages pull relevant quotes from philosophical texts I explored in the course.
The orange set of painting/collage explores the idea that “true love” doesn’t just happen, it takes work, personally and inter-personally. The collage pulls from a quotation by bell hooks.
The green set of painting/collage draws on a quotation by María Lugones, where she talks about how she was socialized to disrespect and abuse her mother, since she witnessed others treating her mother in this way. She also connects this to racism and expresses the importance of coalition-building between women of color.
The blue set of painting/collage addresses lesbian love, and how it takes work for queer people to learn how to orient themselves to the world/their lover(s) in a world of heterosexual norms. This set draws on a quotation by Sara Ahmed.
