黑料不打烊

A key figure in Feminist and Ecofeminist Art movements, Faith Wilding, is finally having her first career-spanning show in New York City: Inside, outside, alive in the shell. This retrospective, covering five decades of creative practice, is her third solo exhibition with Anat Ebgi, on view until March 1. The show captures Wilding's iconic visual vocabulary, which includes recurring motifs that highlight natural exteriors – shells, eggs, cocoons, armor (often described as a “dress”) – evolving or hybrid forms – chrysalides, mermaids, winged insects – and various botanical forms, like seeds, flowers, buds, stems, branches, and leaves. These elements weave together themes of lifecycles, openings, rebirth, growth, transformation, and possibility, forming the philosophical core of her work. Wilding’s wide skillset is evident through an extensive array of media: drawing, watercolor, collage, papier-mâché sculptures, and papyrus scrolls, alongside documentary materials like sketches, photographs, and records of performances. Such a comprehensive presentation, while unified thematically, is, in many ways, an homage to the interdisciplinary roots of her practice. As a whole, her contributions reflect an unyielding commitment to interrogating societal narratives and challenging the status quo in art, life, and politics.

Faith Wilding, Actaeon, 1984, mixed media on paper, framed. Courtesy of Anat Ebgi.

Faith Wilding, born in 1943 in Primavera, Paraguay, has an intrinsic artistic and activist practice that emerged from youth. Her formative years in a pacifist commune in Paraguay, as part of the Bruderhof Anabaptists, profoundly shaped her worldview. Growing up with minimal contact with the outside world, Wilding developed an intimate connection to nature, acutely aware of the relationship between human beings and the land. Her childhood experiences in the South American jungles and waterways planted the seeds for her later creative endeavors and areas of interest: the intersections of ecological deterioration, spiritual awareness, and biopolitics. These early influences merged seamlessly with her research into the connections between women and nature. After arriving in the United States at the age of 18, her environmental and spiritual philosophies helped form what would ultimately be known as an ecofeminist practice.

Faith Wilding, Untitled (Mermaid with Male Attired Figure), 1990, watercolor, ink, and graphite on paper, framed. Courtesy of Anat Ebgi.

Wilding, now a Professor Emerita of Performance Art at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, is best known for her contributions to Womanhouse (1972), a groundbreaking feminist art installation created during her time as a graduate assistant in the Feminist Art Program at CalArts, under the guidance of Miriam Schapiro and Judy Chicago. Other well-known works include Waiting, a poignant 15-minute monologue performance encapsulating a woman's life as an endless cycle of service and waiting, and Crocheted Environment, popularly known as "Womb Room," a web-like fiber installation now housed at the Institute for Contemporary Art in Boston. Throughout her career, Wilding has used themes of the natural world to deliver poignant feminist commentary, paralleling her balancing of experiential, experimental means of learning with traditional academia.   

Faith Wilding, Waiting Poem, 2007, originally written and performed in 1972, ink on xerox paper, framed. Courtesy of Anat Ebgi.

Before her tenure at CalArts, Wilding was a student and activist in Fresno, where she collaborated with fellow student Suzanne Lacy to organize groups focused on raising feminist consciousness. Lacy, an American artist and activist, is also widely recognized for her socially engaged art and public performances and is often mentioned in discussions of Wilding's practice (and vice versa). Lacy’s collaborations with Wilding in their early years were instrumental in shaping feminist artistic practice, first approaching the Feminist movement from outside of the art world. Wilding, a graduate student in English Literature, and Lacy, a graduate student in Psychology, met while at Fresno State (now California State University, Fresno). As luck would have it, Judy Chicago arrived in Fresno during this time, establishing a Feminist Art Program at the school in 1970, in which both Wilding and Lacy took part. This pilot program in Fresno is often overlooked despite being the birthplace of the first Feminist Art Program, with the legacy commonly (and incorrectly) attributed to CalArts. Radical feminist pedagogy was cultivated in Fresno: Chicago and Schapiro, who co-founded the CalArts program in 1971, did so after their success at Fresno State; students-turned-pioneers, Lacy and Wilding, may never have known their educators, or each other, if not for their time in Fresno. It makes perfect sense that ecofeminism, as a concept, emerged out of the epicenter of American agriculture.

Faith Wilding, Weaverbird, 2017, papier-mâché and papyrus illuminated in gouache, gold leaf, and ink. Courtesy of Anat Ebgi.

Faith Wilding, Blood Transformation Mysteries, 1973, watercolor, ink, and graphite on paper. Courtesy of Anat Ebgi.

Tracing Wilding's threads of origin offers more profound insight into her creative practice. Her unique upbringing in Paraguay, constantly surrounded by nature, her multi-disciplinary approach to academia and the arts in the agrarian city of Fresno, and her connections to other strong female artists and educators amounts to a strong fabric of ecofeminist artistry that relies on such interwoven parts. Inside, outside, alive in the shell not only honors Wilding's legacy but also provides a fresh perspective on her enduring influence. In following the evolution of her artistic journey, the exhibition underscores her dedication to seeking an understanding of the interconnection between living things – themes that remain as relevant today as they were at the start of her career. Wilding's creative contributions serve as powerful reminders of the possibilities inherent in reimagining our relationships with nature, each other, and ourselves.

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