0-3082

I am interested in how society determines “criminality”, and how this perception shifts as society evolves. This is one of a series of large-scale, mixed media paintings that focuses on “Prostitutes”: women whose jobs were seduction, while enduring dubious fates fraught with uncertainty and danger. This painting is made of coffee, pulverized charcoal, mica flake, gouache and acrylic gel on Fabriano paper. It is based upon a San Francisco Police Department mug shot of a woman arrested for prostitution in the 1940s. The juxtaposition of black, gritty charcoal against the shimmery mica flake is suggestive of the dualities of ruggedness and seduction inherent in prostitution. Working with these photos of female “criminals”, many of who had clearly been victims of physical assault themselves, also began evoking questions about situations in which the perceived “criminal” may, in fact, be the “victim”.