Society defines women narrowly with strict expectations of acceptable behavior, intellect, and physical attributes. I began a series of paintings of contemporary female figures in informal confident stances without being hyper sensualized to contribute to the visual language of what is female in our social landscape. The paintings reflect women of varying physical statures, life stages and cultures, beyond how they are commonly represented in popular culture.

To prepare, I researched images of women using descriptive words like, “strong” which yielded female athletes. When I entered “confident woman” as a search term, I saw a limited number of images of women in business attire. Continued research confirmed my conviction that society’s narrow depiction of women needs expanding. I took hundreds of photographs of myself in various positions that I felt conveyed strength, poise, elegance, confidence, or empathy to use as models and stylized the silhouettes to illustrate an inclusive array of females.

I paint the figures to be anonymous, yet familiar. My process of pouring paint over the figures obscures them and suggests their resilience regardless of what life throws their way. They become ambiguous to allow the viewer to make them their own. My hope is that all who see them will identify a part of themselves that reflects a positive female attribute.