Jessica Plattner

Artist's Statement:
I grew up taking feminism for granted. Thanks to the strong role models of my mother and grandmother, I felt a real sense of freedom in creating my own life. My adult years have been spent trying to figure out for myself what it means to be a successful woman, in various contexts from urban St. Louis to suburban Washington DC; from the Mayan region of Mexico to Rome, Italy; finally landing in this small rural community in eastern Oregon. My artwork over the past few years has been about the variety of possible roles for women, the contradictory expectations, and the confusion of creating an identity in today’s complex American society. In keeping with my self-conscious, ironic generation, the work is also infused with a healthy dose of satire.

Humor and surprising visual elements allow me to talk about women’s issues and questions of identity without getting too heavy. My newest paintings, for example, are all self-portraits about the decision to have children or not. Holding a baby doll, or pretending to nurse one, I become a pantomime mother while also regressing to my own childhood. The association with early Madonna and Child images raises the question of tradition and its role in shaping our personal desires. My use of materials also relates to tradition ---some pieces use historical glazing techniques of oil paint on canvas, while others use unconventional materials like wallpaper and collage. In both cases, the materials refer not only to the history of art, but also to the history of our culture’s expectations for women.

As a painter, my main interest is in playing with the illusion of space, which is the great magic of painting. As a woman, the question of space is also important, as we react to the various private, public, or professional spaces we inhabit. In the mixed media pieces on wallpaper, for example, the disparate materials emphasize a disjointed sense of self in relation to the domestic sphere. At the same time, the subjects in my paintings look out from the space of the painting, aware of being watched, reminding the viewer that personal decisions have public, political implications.

While this work is intensely personal, I think it taps into a common reality for many women today. In a broader sense, I hope it also speaks more universally about the struggle to create a cohesive identity in a culture that presents conflicting, sometimes bizarre expectations.

"Wallpaper"

"Escape"