In my family, in the 1630s, two sisters came from Wales to the Borderlands of England. They came to work, to wed, to raise children and to provide, as was their tradition, healing care for their community. For their troubles, they were drowned. Everyone knew that witches came from Wales.

More than two hundred years later, women had still not agreed to behave. They wanted education and work, to wed or not, to raise children or not and to care for and lead their communities. In the 1850s, no longer drowned by official decree, problematic women were still murdered and maimed but more often just locked away in asylums. With the invention of photography, they were also photographed in these spaces.

The paintings in this exhibition are based on some of these asylum photos. The sitters for these portraits were women literally contained and hindered by their times. In this brief moment they agreed to be photographed and, in their silence, they are still able to show their dignity and claim their agency.

Opening reception and artist talk: Friday, October 10th from 6:30 to 8:00pm