International Women’s Day began in 1911 and its motto is “Balance for Better.” Women don’t seek gender dominance, but gender equality—to balance the scales of injustice and to be seen as equal to men. At Conception, we are a team of women, founded by a female artist, working for all artists to feel recognized and validated in their work. Even though the art world might be slightly more progressive than the corporate world when it comes to gender equality, there is still much work to be done. Female artists are often seen as more emotional or less technically talented than their male counterparts, So cheers to all of you feminists of any gender persuasion striving with us to make your art communities a welcome place for all! Here are just a few female artists we admire and have worked with who rock their art businesses:
1. Suzanne Scott – New York City
Originally from New Jersey, Suzanne Scott now works out of Manhattan. Her oversized oil paintings of fingerprints are done in painstaking detail, while the color choices and repetition reveal emotional landscapes. She fingerprints people close to her, scan the prints, enlarges them, and then turns the structure into a psychological portrait. She explains, “the fingerprint, with all its lines and swirls, enables me to include massive quantities of information regarding each person’s life and character and my relationship to them.” A graduate of Rutgers University, Suzanne’s work has been published widely and her work has been exhibited all over Europe and New York, most recently at LaBodega Gallery in Brooklyn. Suzanne often participates in group exhibitions and firmly believes in having apprenticeships with other artists and using your own knowledge to help them grow.
2. Emma Worth – Liverpool, England
Emma’s first large exhibition after a Conception show in Liverpool was the Conception art fair in NYC’s Frieze week. Her hyper-realistic portraiture neglects nothing for the viewer—she wants to remain as faithful as possible to all aspects of a person, “even if it’s nose hairs.” Inspired by the grittiness underlying David Lynch’s dreamlike work, Emma pulls no punches with her subjects and does not take commissions unless her subjects surrender complete faith. She says, “I paint the way I paint. I choose the subjects and their representation.” And when it comes to rendering larger-than-life, emotional portraits, we’d put our trust in Emma any day.
3.Kam Ridley – Jersey City, NJ
Award-winning photographer, intuitive body painter, and creator of Fashion: the ISSUE, Kam Ridley transforms fashion into a statement with every click of the shutter. The internationally published fashion photographer creates socially conscience editorial stories with an eye for the beautiful aesthetic of all things fashion. She offers face paintings sessions, body painting sessions, and often does events and exhibitions. She believes her ability to paint and work closely with her subjects and then be more objective and critical behind the camera gives her a unique artistic perspective.
4.Colleen Blackard – Brooklyn, New York
Originally from Austin, Texas, Colleen creates drawings inspired by the light of the Texas night skies of her youth. She is a current recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant, and she received a BA from Hampshire College, MA. Her work has been featured in such venues as ACA Galleries, Owen James Gallery, and Brooklyn Fire Proof. Her drawings are in Pierogi Gallery’s Flat Files in NYC and she is represented by ISSO Gallery in Tokyo. Her work was also featured in Drawing Magazine. Her drawings combine natural, celestial and man-made elements in occasionally surreal compositions to explore light, memory, consciousness and change. Whether in ballpoint pen, archival marker, ink washes, or monotype, she is constantly pushing the envelope on the types of atmospheres and effects she can create with these dynamic lines and their interstitial light.
5. X Sonni X – Los Angeles, CA
Vancouver native Sonni Pacheco has unearthed a brilliant and recognizable talent that is already gaining fast traction in the Los Angeles art community. Although only sculpting since the birth of her daughter in 2013, Pacheco truly succeeds in showcasing her extreme sensitivity, using the harrowing stories of womanhood to capture a uniquely powerful portrayal of a seemingly powerless time in her life, entrusting audiences with her most vulnerable self. Pacheco’s use of skulls allows her to reconnect to the primitive nature of humanity, specifically the relationship between men and women. The displaced power dynamics encountered today are avidly evocative, allowing Pacheco a platform to showcase the rise from emotional captivity. Pacheco redirects the internal emptiness abuse induces and focuses on creating primal statements by connecting life and body, with disparity and death.
