Artist My 'I' Likes: Jane Maxwell

My friend Liz and I discovered the artist Jane Maxwell at an art gallery in Boston a few summers ago.

Some of you are going to love her work as much as I do. Which means that when I'm ready to buy a piece the price will be even higher.

But I just wanted to share.

Of my favorites, the first is 'Walking Girls'.

'Pick your Fruit' reminds me of of a photo I have of my mother who modeled in San Francisco in the early 1960's; I also remember going to orchards to pick apricots with her as a child.

Though I've read Ms. Maxwell's statement, her work has a slightly different meaning for me (as it well may for you). I see a both/and -- the connecting and caring that is symbolized by the fruit labels/the farmer's market -- and the 'I or identity piece of ourselves that I see in the stance of the women -- at least in the images that I like.

Bottom line -- I'm not quite sure why I love her artwork so much.

Isn't it usually that way?

We discover art, we love it, and only later we come to see how the art has named for us something that we somehow couldn't.

What is your response?

Do you like, dislike, love, hate -- or are you indifferent to her work?

What meaning do you make?

Related posts:

Blog I Like: Portabellopixie
Affirming our 'I'dentity
Farmer's market metaphor
Dreaming or deflecting?

Comments

[b]

I find artists like this so appealing..don't you wish you had thought of that! I find what I think she wanted me to find...the body image with just a hint of language to inspire thought. Good post Whitney.

b

[Stacey P]

Great post. I read Jane's Q&A and I was struck by a response to explaining her work:

When I first began to work with doll forms, I would tuck personal items or symbolic imagery into each piece. One of the items I included were old weight watchers food logs. There seemed to be a natural relationship between the doll silhouettes with their perfect hourglass figures--and these food logs. These doll forms became the representative 'ideal'. They also became my venue to open a dialogue about the pressure many women feel to live up to this beauty and body ideal. I have been a chronic dieter since I was a teenager, always striving for a body that was thinner and more fit. The art became a great outlet to 'deconstruct' the ideal body myth. I was able to remove the rosy cheeks and sexy skivvies of these iconic dolls, and fill them with exercise charts or fruit and vegetable labels to comment on the real work/obsession behind the good body.

That says it all for me...

[leslie]

Love those images! Her work is fabulous- no I haven't met her but Wow- I really really like it. Her mixed media style is so rich and I love the symbolic use and materials selection. Her mix of color and composition is sharp and striking.

[LaNola Kathleen Stone]

There are a lot of layers to this seemly simple work. Iconic, Identity pursuant, graphically rich and quite feminine. Very traditional and yet extremely progressive. Thanks for the introduction.

And just as a side note: I find the expression "don't you wish you had thought of that!" as ignorant of what it takes to be a creative and insulting to the expression behind the work, the inherent talent and the effort and time an artist invests to hone their craft. It's like saying, "Van Gogh- Sunflowers, I could have done that" -- and yes you can... Today you can purchase a paint by numbers kit online and then you'll have your own Van Gogh, right? well no, you wouldn't. The artists intent, background and inspiration is in every one of Vincent's strokes. The masterpiece is in the finesse and je ne sais quoi (which literally means "I don't know"), it just speaks to us. The most difficult compositions are the most seemly "simple" and clean but powerful and transforms the thoughts in the viewer.