Watercolor on Paper, Mounted on Wood Panel

14" x 18"

2023

Sarah Curry is a painter, illustrator and printmaker who captures the vitality of the human spirit through her art work by making connections between her subject matters (usually people in her everyday life) and current social and political issues. She has been teaching art at Brush High School since 2001, and received a BFA from Kansas City Art Institute and an MFA from Case Western Reserve University. Her work can be found in many private collections throughout the United States.

This series of work explores commonalities between women with a gap of 50 years or more. The women depicted in this body of work were found in magazines published before the Roe v. Wade ruling and after it was overturned. Now that women’s reproductive autonomy lacks federal protection, I wonder whether women have been sent back 50 years? I feel the experiences of my generation of women and our push for more relevance and equality being erased. 

Among the old and new magazines, I began looking for similarities and differences between the depictions of women. I question what those differences are or if there are any to be found. Are any women better off than they were 50 years ago? Has there been growth and progress for women? If so, in what areas? And, for which women? What are the common threads? By juxtaposing 50-year-old images of women with modern ones, I provide a space for the women to communicate. I wonder what they would say. I ask the audience to envision their interactions. 

Sarah Curry: 1973-present

Roe v. Wade: 1973-2022