Difficult Women
âDifficult Womenâ oil on canvas, yarn burlap, goldleaf âDifficultâ is the namesake piece from the **âDifficult Womenâ theme. It was made at the same time as three others of similar size that, when placed in order together spell out a âmantraâ seen on the titles posted on boards on top of each work. When all together, they read âDifficult Women, Stay Apart, Women Apart, Stay Difficultâ. All the women in the paintings with these particular titles hover in long dark dresses. They each have long red gloves replacing their arms. This one has the gloves attached to a sash around her waist, and her fingers hold a white string horizontally. Her hair is covered with a veil, somewhat a mourning veil. She looks thoughtfully at the viewerâ¦.. I like to think her expression shows mystery and wisdom.
yr: 1995
This painting is most important to me because while making it, a river of thought and ideas were opened. Before this, I had never made any artworks that particularly belonged to a series. This just came over me, and I âwent with itâ. I go back to this theme, âThe Difficult Womenâ still. Over the years as Iâve made more of this theme, I have come to realize in my psyche, hidden meanings and reasons behind what brought me to make these. I came to realize my mother inspired the series. She had a major loss in her life when I was young, and I grew up watching her deal with this in various waysâ¦.to rise above her problems in life. The âmissing armsâ are a symbol of her loss, since she was a young widow. She herself is (was) not âdifficultââ¦.it is (was) her life that has (had) been made difficult because of her loss. I do not expect people to understand the meaning of this in my âDifficult Womenâ themed works from first sight. However, if they decide to read about âmyâ meaning behind the theme, I hope they will feel empowered when they look at the series. It is about so much more than âmissing armsâ.
** âDifficult Womenâ definition: A âLiShinaultâ artwork in regard to graceful empowerment featuring those who create other ways to get by when they have lost something invaluable. Most art in the âD.W.â theme have missing arms, which are âreplacedâ by another means. -LiShinault
yr: 1995
This painting is most important to me because while making it, a river of thought and ideas were opened. Before this, I had never made any artworks that particularly belonged to a series. This just came over me, and I âwent with itâ. I go back to this theme, âThe Difficult Womenâ still. Over the years as Iâve made more of this theme, I have come to realize in my psyche, hidden meanings and reasons behind what brought me to make these. I came to realize my mother inspired the series. She had a major loss in her life when I was young, and I grew up watching her deal with this in various waysâ¦.to rise above her problems in life. The âmissing armsâ are a symbol of her loss, since she was a young widow. She herself is (was) not âdifficultââ¦.it is (was) her life that has (had) been made difficult because of her loss. I do not expect people to understand the meaning of this in my âDifficult Womenâ themed works from first sight. However, if they decide to read about âmyâ meaning behind the theme, I hope they will feel empowered when they look at the series. It is about so much more than âmissing armsâ.
** âDifficult Womenâ definition: A âLiShinaultâ artwork in regard to graceful empowerment featuring those who create other ways to get by when they have lost something invaluable. Most art in the âD.W.â theme have missing arms, which are âreplacedâ by another means. -LiShinault