Amy Pleasant

Silent Storm (2019)
acrylic on paper
20 x 28 in.

I know for certain that life is always changing . . . but some things linger. A curiosity about the influence of memory and the transition of generations arose from the juxtaposition of simultaneously raising children and caring for my mother and my aunt during illnesses that led to their deaths. My early paintings were rooted in the family albums passed down to me. This work around women is broadened with the integration of my own childhood experience with sexual assault. After finally breaking my silence following their deaths I looked at these women in a different light, knowing that this was a burden so common among my mother’s generation.

I have revisited those vintage photos as well as collecting others from thrift shops an effort to read between the lines of these candid photographs “She’s Come Undone” is my most recent series which speaks to the strength, anger and sadness of women, past and present who have held their secrets fast. These paintings serve as a metaphor to the cost and restrictiveness of silence and the empowerment that comes from breaking that silence. (WA)

© Amy Pleasant