Past Exhibitions > Elizabeth Burans

Dates: April 13 - 23
Reception April 20 6 - 8 pm

In my work I use old-fashioned imagery, cut away from its original context, to begin a dialogue about the idealization of the feminine form. My silhouetted figures are taken from illustrations on sewing pattern envelopes from the 1950s and ‘60s and assembled to fit within the structural confines of traditional quilt patterns. While at first appearing purely as fields of color, closer inspection reveals the individual images that make up a patterned, decorative structure. This echoes (in a metaphorical way) the process by which society attempts to fit women into often-idealized niches, and creates expectations that seem unlikely to be met.