{"id":362,"date":"2022-03-24T16:30:23","date_gmt":"2022-03-24T16:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.1stdibs.com\/the-mint\/\/?p=362"},"modified":"2022-03-31T22:20:09","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T22:20:09","slug":"identity-self-made-by-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.1stdibs.com\/the-mint\/identity-self-made-by-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Sparrow Read on ‘IDentity: (Self)-Made by Women’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\""Actnea",
Actnea<\/em>, 2022, by Chris Kore<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Once I knew that I wanted to be an artist, I had made myself into one. I did not understand that wanting doesn\u2019t always lead to action. Many of the women had been raised without the sense that they could mold and shape their own lives, and so, wanting to be an artist (but without the ability to realize their wants) was, for some of them, only an idle fantasy, like wanting to go to the moon.<\/em> \u2014 Judy Chicago<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s hard to be what we cannot see and even harder if we don\u2019t know who we are ourselves. Identity is so much more than the limited boxes that we are given. For many artists, the exploration of identity \u2014 our own and those of others \u2014 is a natural practice; we bring our authentic selves to our art. Who or what do we see when we look in the mirror?<\/p>\n\n\n

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\""Identity",
Identity<\/em>, 2022, by Angie Taylor<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Each artist featured in this collection, titled \u201cIDentity: (Self)-Made by Women,\u201d has a diverse range of identities, but they all share the self-determination of being an artist. As it happens, all of them also identify as \u201cshe,\u201d which is not the easiest path in the art world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For generations, the names everyone recognizes in art history have been male. (See the #5WomenArtists campaign<\/a> from the National Museum of Women in the Arts if you need further proof.) Despite this, we can see that every art movement has been shaped by women, who quietly, or sometimes loudly, fought against bias to bring their individual perspective to art. They innovate across mediums, record their lives and challenge society\u2019s understanding of art and a woman\u2019s place within it.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Still
Still from Wandering<\/em>, 2022, by Stina Jones<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In the traditional art world, we are confronted with statistics like these:<\/p>\n\n\n\n