FEMALE RISING

In the summer of 2020, I was experiencing the toll of weeks of living in lockdown with two young children, saddled with the impossible task of keeping everyone safe while performing the full time roles of artist, mother, homeschool teacher, and partner. I was caught in a loop of hypervigilance and exhaustion.

I wanted desperately to feel freedom and connection again. I wanted to be in the close presence of breathing beings again. I wanted to stop sensing threats. I wanted let go of all the strings, feel the sky within me, and the grace of my moving body. I wanted to feel safe. I wanted to remember what empowerment and freedom felt like.

I began to photograph my favourite sundress to rediscover these feelings. I fell in love with the way the wind animated the dress as it inhaled possibility and exhaled surrender. Then, I discovered a trove of vintage dresses in my mother in law’s dance studio. I photographed these dresses in natural landscapes floating, dancing, breathing, free. I liberated the dresses from gender roles, societal expectations, and patriarchal narratives.

I’m curious about the relationship between femininity and oppression and how the dress can be seen as a symbol of each. I’m also curious about what it would take for the dress to become a symbol of female empowerment. “Female Rising” is an invitation to suspend and reconsider beliefs we have about who we are and what is possible. I believe that gender equality and female empowerment is the best way to change the world, to rebalance priorities in our hyper-masculine focused world, to reclaim the power of femininity and prioritize love and care for ourselves, each other, and the planet.

I’ve considered these thoughts at length over the past few years while liberating thrift shop dresses in my travels across North America.