About the Artist

Cara Croke is an artist and art historian native to the suburbs of Philadelphia.  She earned her BFA magna cum laude from Moore College of Art and Design and her MA with honors from the University of Essex, United Kingdom.  Her studio practice primarily focuses her lived emotions, the maternal experience and intangible nostalgia.

Artist Statement

“Storytelling is intrinsic in my family rituals. The stories of loved ones, whom I have never met, or tales from my parents’ youth have been woven into the fabric of my life. I find myself telling these stories to my own children about people and places they have never met or will never see. While these ancestors are no longer physical beings, the stories I have heard countless times have created very real people in my mind.

My work explores the idea of how storytelling has created visual landscapes in my mind. I combine the use of family photographs of the people or occasions that I have been told about to create physical landscapes for them to exist within. I also depict the emotions of pivotal moments of my life specifically grief, loss, love and new life expressed through the use of watercolor paint, gold leaf and photography.  The use of watercolor is intrinsically important to express the fluid nature of the emotional journey.  I choose colors that carry important emotional significance and are representative of my lived experience.”

Artist Bio

Tracy Leena Soreng is an artist and a textile designer. She was born in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh in India, and belongs to an ‘Kharia’ indigenous community. From the time she learnt to hold a pencil, she has been drawing. She pursued her talent by entering National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, studying Textiles, where she got interested in printed textiles. She worked in the fashion retail industry as textile designer. After which she decided to go for MA in Textiles for Fashion from Manchester Metropolitan University, UK, where she realised that her core speaks to be an artist. After returning back to India, she worked with an Indian fashion export house designing scarves for the European market. She wanted to do something more meaningful, which led to leaving the job, and hustling between freelance and self exploration as an artist.

Studying in the UK was a major turning point in her career, where she learnt and practiced how to think beyond what was taught earlier; in aspects of her origin, social, cultural and a feminist point of view. She is in her exploring stage of understanding to communicate her experiences through visual and tactile form. She is exploring the translation of her: belongingness, relationships, upbringing, education and feminism into a unique form of art.

Artist Statement

My work is an amalgamation of my love for nature, drawing and creating prints as a textile designer. I often go back and forth from hand drawing to digital drawings to keep in touch with both mediums. However, my present indulgence in digital illustrations still carries the raw feel of a hand drawing. My illustrations often demonstrate human figures placed against a pattern that one could imagine in a dress they would wear, pictured into a textile piece of illustration.

I am practising learn-unlearn-relearn through what was taught earlier and what makes more sense now. My art explores of self discovery, emancipation as a woman, full of emotions and sensitivity. I want my work to evoke a sensorial and immersive experience, to bring one close to verisimilitude, by transporting them in what they are seeing, and what it could actually mean, open to many interpretations.

My latest series of ‘gaze’ is an exploration of emotions as colours, which changes with seasons of life. It is also a personal journey of my mood changes over the course of pandemic, channelising my senses into fragments of my imagination, yet trying to be grounded to the reality.

What does “Gaze” mean to you & how do you connect it to your work?

A gaze can either make you feel validated or it can make you feel uncomfortable. Coming from India, there are several setbacks to being a woman. This series of illustrations is a ‘gaze back’ to the society who looks at women; to teach them to behave in a certain way, to be docile, to do whatever is told and not have a mind of their own. However, the portraits in my work are in their most feminine form, like the colour of their skin is depicted, having a calmness in them, vulnerable, resilient to the society standards, still confronting them with a gathered courage. They are shy, yet learning confidence to gaze back at the society. They are ambitious, spiritually intense and have a charm that one can’t deny.

Artist Bio

I studied advertising and design at Hussian School of Art in Philadelphia PA. for 1 1/2 yrs. After a painting class I felt that wasn’t for me. I felt I was a fine artist. I then transferred to the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. I left about a year later, after I met my husband. I took a brief hiatus of about 20 yrs. I focused on being a mother to my 2 beautiful sons and wife to my husband. I went back to school in 2013, Montgomery County Community College and received my associates in fine arts. You can find my work on Etsy ,Sharonwensel studio, as well as in private collections throughout the country.

Artist Statement

When painting portraits I try to communicate hidden emotions with color and texture. I do this by using mixed media on varied surfaces.

What does “Gaze” mean to you & how do you connect it to your work?

I feel Gaze is what is going on behind the eyes. What has happened to create the gaze, a culmination of many years of emotions whether good, bad or both. The eyes truly are the windows of the soul.

Artist Bio

Nina Meledandri, a native New Yorker, is a painter and a photographer living in Crown Heights, Brooklyn. As a painter she has shown extensively throughout the NY area and was represented by the David Findlay Gallery in NY where she had 2 solo shows. As a photographer she has been published by the NY Times Magazine, Architectural Digest, New York Magazine and the Village Voice among others. The cornerstone of Meledandri’s process both as a painter and a photographer is daily practice. As a painter it takes the form of daily watercolors that she has been making since 1996. As a photographer she has posted to a minimum of 3 blogs each day for over 15 years. Meledandri recently began making paper which she uses as a foundation for mixed media work. This body of work is strongly rooted in her love of the natural world.

Artist Statement

Every artist has the desire to make something never before seen, to connect to truth in a unique way, to create the undeniable. Whether painting, working with mixed media or taking pictures, Jungian philosophy is at the core of my process. The principles of synchronicity and the collective unconscious have fostered my AbEx approach to painting, informed the experiential in my photographs and fueled trust in the exploration of materials. As an artist working across media, my expression often takes the form of diptychs. I find the psychological (and often subliminal) space created between paired images to be a powerfully evocative, though sometimes unsettling stimulus for probing uncharted territory. This is a space where I believe truths exist, truths which can be coaxed into consciousness, exposing moments of undeniable clarity.

It is my primary intent, regardless of media, to provide the viewer access to an interior, recognizable place, be it a reminder of the familiar or the discovery of the previously unknown. To this end my language relies on that which is primal to all humans, forms which exist in the natural world we share. As a painter this often means symbols: eggs, pods, spirals, as a photographer I intimately explore flowers in all their stages and with mixed media I incorporate resonant organic matter into the paper itself. Weaving though all my work is a love of color and it’s power to evoke deeply resonant and emotive responses in the viewer.

What does “Gaze” mean to you & how do you connect it to your work?

the gaze objectifies
and because
it focuses on only the exterior
it stimulates a need
for a shell

the gaze judges
and because
it is born of preconceived ideals
it does not allow
for discovery

the gaze alienates
and because
it does not identify “with”
it eschews the opportunity
for connection

the gaze rests in assumed superiority
and because
it creates an uneven playing field
it makes
for a combative environment

I have traditionally used dolls and mannequins in my work as representations of the protective shell that can be one response to “the gaze”.
More recently, a sort of defiant & glorious anger has replaced the plastic aloofness I have often relied on to represent its effect on me.

Artist Bio

Kristen is a lifelong artist, having painted and created in various medium since she was a child. Her subject matter is inspired by her experiences and surroundings. As an example, her BFA thesis, “The Human Body: Nude and Exposed,” presented a body of work featuring nudes of traditionally unacceptable figures: elderly, larger figures, scarred skin; which presented the viewer to examine skin and its correspondence to the soul within, as the condition of skin often narrates the history of a person. Over the years her children have often been subjects of her paintings. The quarantine era of 2020 offered an opportunity to portray her teenage daughter as she coped with challenges presented during this unusual time.

Artist Statement

“She Builds Houses” and “She Waits” are portraits of my teenage daughter during quarantine-era 2020, a time when so many losses were experienced; these paintings illustrate just one of millions of life-as-we-knew-it changes.
Sitting at her vanity in her unused prom dress, her gaze is focused on herself. What does this time hold for American high school traditions? Each day presented news on a minute, local scale: no prom, no graduation, limited social interaction…as well as worldwide: millions of deaths, loss of jobs, businesses closing, international border closings. In the secure bubble of her room, she quietly absorbs uncertainties and finds solace in building miniature houses. This activity provides focus and is symbolic of her generation: positioned on the cusp of their future. I witness her resiliency, and am fortunate to be able to capture it in my art.

What does “Gaze” mean to you & how do you connect it to your work?

“Gaze” means multiple things to me.
Certainly, in studying art, we learn of the gaze of women staring back from the canvas, full of interpretation through centuries.
As young women we feel the gazes upon us: an attraction from an older man, or fellow peer, perhaps jealousy from another, a supportive teacher, a curious toddler. These too have a plethora of interpretation. Often a gaze is uncomfortable, an invasion, so to speak.

As an artist we subject ourselves to the gaze of the viewer, this too can be uncomfortable, as we are exposing ourselves to interpretation.
In writing about my painting submissions for “All She Makes: Gaze,” I explain the quarantine situation my daughter and I were in. The “gaze” in this scenario was the opportunity that I had to witness her, her strength and coping skills. As a beautiful, confident young woman, she experiences gazes in public and the uncomfortable feeling that accompanies them. She has learned to deal, her older sister has passed the “death stare” skill down to her. But in her bubble, her gaze is inward, whether in the vanity mirror or toward her miniature house projects. Comfort for her and her mom.

Artist Bio

Ibegan focusing on painting after working in business and then as a lawyer. I used to walk past an art supply store on my way to work daily. Though I couldn’t shake from my head the desire to go inside, I felt intimidated and overwhelmed by the selection. Not knowing where to begin, but knowing I wanted to begin, I bought a box of watercolor paint. From there, I found online classes and workshops that made me remember how much I loved the art class I took in high school. While I sometimes regret not recognizing or investing in this passion earlier, my art practice draws heavily on my past experiences. Much of my work reflects my desire to break free from the box of respectability, the pressure felt under a predominantly white, male gaze, in order to find my true self.

I did not attend a formal art school program; however, I have studied figure drawing and portraiture with Jody Mattison and abstraction with Melinda Cootsona. I am grateful to all the artists I have met in community centers and as part of online forums for their advice and encouragement.

I live with my husband and two children in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Artist Statement

Julie Atkinson uses oil paint and mixed media to create abstract figurative work that centers Black women. She sees her art as a love poem to Black women. Black women’s bodies and emotions are under constant scrutiny. She aims to treat Black women with the tenderness and nuance that is too often denied as they are looked at as a particular “type,” particularly as she explores and processes her experiences living and working as a Black woman in predominantly white, male spaces. She draws inspiration from Black writers and poets, specifically the poem, “Listen, Children,” by Lucille Clifton.

Creating in layers is an important part of Ms. Atkinson’s creative process. The final image, made rich by texture and pattern, is forged from mistakes, intentional and unintentional marks, and layers that she was convinced were final until they weren’t. She uses the layers to cover and reveal different amounts of the female form, finding beauty in the emotions that emerge from and merge with the physical figure.

Ms. Atkinson’s recent work focuses on rest and renewal. The pursuit of “respectability” within white spaces can come at a high cost for Black women in terms of self-esteem. As Ms. Atkinson struggles with how much of herself she has sacrificed to make others comfortable, she is exploring through art the journey from feelings of exhaustion and stress, to, ultimately, an unapologetic rest and rebirth with a newfound wholeness.

What does “Gaze” mean to you & how do you connect it to your work?

The Gaze is all too familiar to me. It is a constant. I am a Black woman who has grown up, been educated, and worked in predominantly white spaces my entire life. For me, the Gaze manifests as the assumptions and stereotypes that reduce me to the most convenient popular image of a Black woman at the moment– “You remind me of…”. The Gaze puts me in a category. I suppose at times it is meant to be flattering, but I feel diminished and unseen.

My studio is a respite from the Gaze. I paint Black women around me– the women I do not see in the community where my house is located. Here, in my studio, my emotions are unscrutinized, my hair is unexamined and free. I don’t have to live up to the comparison to Michelle Obama. When my paintings leave my studio they will be subjected to a gaze; such is the nature of exhibiting art. I anticipate this and respond by intentionally revealing and obscuring women’s bodies through layers and textures. If they must be gazed at, then she is in control of what she shows you.

Find her on

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliecreating

Website: https://www.julieatkinsonart.com/

Artist Bio

Based in Central Texas, Jennifer Epperson, utilizes photography, painting, drawing, collage, appropriation and revision to create two-dimensional art from the female gaze. She focuses on seeing womxn subjectively rather than as objects. The human body and body parts are consistent elements of composition and content as she takes on subjects like women’s health, assault and rape, guns and children, #MeToo, and agency over one’s body.

Since 1996, she has honed her skills through a more immersive process of working in a series. Pin Ups and Glamour Girls, Portraits of Couples, and Ancestors, are series completed in Houston between 1998 and 2003. This early work is painterly and portrait focused. Epperson moved west in 2003 to Northern Arizona high desert where we note pallet change and greater focus on sense of place. Like the early surrealists, she possesses the ability to dive deep into the unconscious and bring imaginings and dreams to the surface. An unusual achievement for an artist, she was named art program director for the Arizona Society of Psychoanalytic Psychology, where she brought art into continuing education for therapists.

In 2019, she was awarded a six-week residency as part of the Volcanic Artist Residency program in Whakatane, New Zealand. This opportunity allowed her to focus on Maori culture for inspiration. That same year, a move to central Texas provided the right set of circumstances to create art in three very different locations over a 12-month period.
She continues to work in series, and the influence of place plays an active part in the creative process. Epperson explores materials and uses extensive research in her current work. Don’t Fuck the Patriarchy, Portals, and the ongoing Women as Birds – Portraits of Power are examples of her unique vision of women in the modern world.

Artist Statement

At five, I never thought it would take me so long to become an artist. After all, I already was one! Now, in the second half of my life, I have time, energy and burning desire to practice art. Decades of art education and daily practice lead me to create from the female gaze. The female gaze is a perspective that is subjective, seeking to explore the interiority of the being. For me, that subject is most often women. I create from a woman’s point of view, striving to explore the power and the agency of women, their feelings, their bodies, and their values.

I am a painter but I use paper as medium as well as wet and dry media. I am also a science geek. Currently evolutionary biology and transmutation inspire me. I am influenced by my love of certain artists: David Hockney for his color and reinvention, Haymao Miyazaki for his finely drawn female characters and storylines, Julie Speed for her fearless revisionism and superb
Collage technique.

I am interested in a few basic themes: sex, death and the human condition. I think these themes will keep me busy for the rest of my life. I committed to living my life as an artist when I discovered I no longer had a choice. Living as an artist, while different from joining a nunnery or a cult, still demands commitments. Here are mine:
1. Work every day.
2. Create an authentic voice.
3. Seek challenges and walk the edge.
4. Have fun and share with others.
5. Earn a living.

What does “Gaze” mean to you & how do you connect it to your work?

Jenny’s Angry Uterus is Presented to the Court of Marie Antoinette was created from a single clear vision. Its completed form changed little from the original inspired sketch. The self portrait is delineated by what is not usually known or shown about women, the very organs that define us as women. The organs are glamorously decorated with maladies women experience throughout their lives. With skirts held high, the determined self encourages the viewer to take full stock of the feminine. Marie Antoinette, adept in convincing so many in court that the sizzle was indeed the steak, is sure to understand the implications of truth over spectacle.

The Metamorphosis of Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a portrait honoring the Supreme Court Justice. The butterfly motif is used to remind us of the value of change. I show Ruth at various ages and stages of her life when she methodically challenges and changes laws affecting women. As a result of her patient dedication, thousands of laws have been passed to afford women equal rights.
She led the way for us to complete metamorphosis.

21st Century Odalisque
Old word for a new Century

“Odalisque” is a sumptuous word. It tastes like vanilla ice cream with a fine brandy chaser. It is formed of sensual sounds and leaves the tongue with a sibilant whistle.

It is an old word created by the French that served to objectify women for the male gaze, identifying women who existed solely for male pleasure.

From the original Turkish word “odalik”, referring to a chambermaid or female attendant, it transformed during the colonial period to odalisque. Salacious imaginings of the Sultan’s harem led to transforming the word from servant to concubine.

During the Orientalist art movement in 19th century Europe, male artists created female nudes without the strictures of the neoclassical period. Take Edouard Manet’s Olympia, the odalisque masterpiece that scandalized Paris in 1865.

I gleefully revise the iconic pose for the 21st century, bending its original message to reflect women now.

Here’s the proposition: new meaning for an old word. Semantic change is change in language regarding the evolution of word usage—usually to the point that the modern meaning is radically different from the original. Olympia is plucked from historic context and becomes a new woman, and odalisque becomes a new word, free to describe powerful, confident womanhood. Content with her power and deed, she reclines and puts up her feet. She takes a break from leading the world to relax and recharge.

I am convinced that women will lead the world out of hatred and chaos. Their leadership has already begun. Women continue to heal our planet and to teach us, once again, to care for one another. When it becomes tiresome hearing women called nasty, strident, abrasive, or slutty, or any of the plethora of cynical phrases degrading women, try out a new old word to inform and celebrate power and confidence. Be on the lookout for the modern-day odalisque!

Find her on

Website: https://thestudio61.com/