Valerie Hird "THe Maiden Voyages Project"
Nohra Haime Gallery
This event has ended.
Long fascinated by the Middle East, Hird convinced four women from the region – Iran, Egypt, Jordan and the Palestinian West Bank – to keep a detailed journal of their activities on the same day of every month, for one full year. The artist herself, an American from Vermont, also kept a record of her personal experiences for that shared day. Hird then collected and translated from text to images the daily entries. The diaries featured are the visual narratives of the personal stories of these five women – of whom all but one wished to remain anonymous to the artist.
As Hird interprets and renders a pictorial testimony of the daily routines, reflections, and emotions of each woman, she attempts to present the viewer with an honest glimpse of their contemporary realities. The result is a sequence of crisply rendered – using graphite, ink pen, water color, gouache and asphaltum – and heavily collaged images, characterized by their discernible richness and powerful meaning. Variations of style, reflective of each woman’s individuality and writing style are evident within the different books.
Arranged horizontally in interrelated grids, many of the illustrations are dedicated to the mundanity of work, home and family – the most accessible aspects of daily life, yet the least understood in our exposure to other cultures. The collective narrative is a cross cultural experience that attempts to make the lives of real women of varying countries, religions and backgrounds accessible to the viewer who is otherwise unlikely to experience that level of intimacy first-hand. Defying Western stereotypes, Maiden Voyages reduces the overwhelming issues of religion, cultural difference and politics to a more human and intimate scale. Given a few moments in front of these stories, the viewer is immediately plunged into the common, yet singular lives of these women.
Also on view is the interactive and animated, hand drawn, version of the project, enlivened with music chosen by the diarists and embedded within their imagery.
Media
Schedule
from July 20, 2010 to September 11, 2010