Barriers to Entry Drawings 2023

Barriers to entry
2023-25

Dimensions: 3 7/8 x 5 7/8 in - 8 x 11 in

Oil and enamel on hand deckled paper
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"Barriers to Entry" is a body of oil paintings on paper which symbolize spaces made difficult to enter, especially to women and other under-represented individuals. Implying movement, the geometric, transparent, layered forms build walls with few spaces to enter. Just as places far reaching can be attractive, the bright, strong, forward colors may give an impression of joyfulness, and yet, they are impassable obstacles.

These works on paper are tediously prepared and painted over time. The hand-deckled paper is then prepared with many layers of gesso and sometimes enamel paint. Over the course of 8 months, each form layered on top of one another is symbolic of the constant movement of obstacles closing off opportunities. The thin, luminous layered forms appear animated when the works are shown in a series. Follow one color to the next and you will see that the dizzying effect is meant to be constant, conveying the reality often felt in society by those voices that remain silent.