A Tapestry of Clitorises

Included in Touchstone Gallery's 2024 juried exhibition, 'Iteration Reiteration' in Washington, DC. This painting is inspired by women's ongoing battle to examine our own sexuality outside the burden of millennia of shame, guilt, and ignorance. The anatomical shape of the clitoris was only uncovered in 2005 and was not as some had described, the "poor homologue" of the penis. Today our sexuality is still seen as lesser. Less core to our identity, less powerful, less valid, and deserving of domination as if it were nature's intention. No more! Tapestries have historically been a way to communicate a female perspective across cultures and generations, even when our voices are silenced. In my painting, 'A Tapestry of Clitorises', the warp appears unwavering and overpowering, forming a prison across the canvas. The weft depicts the clitoris in muted shades, as if hidden in the shadows. But move closer and you will see a shimmering rainbow of intricate colors bursting through, waiting to tr