Comments for Not Barbie: A Celebration of Real Women

Thank you does not even begin to express the gratitude - your lovely models are so clearly our sisters and selves entwined.  What a joy to see women, real women & think Beauty.  ~ AP

Thank you Susan!  This exhibit is outstanding - moving - powerful - inspiring and outrageous and it will help to educate women and men - thank you!  You are a gifted artist!  ~ ROS


Empowering and validating.  A show that should be seen by all.  ~ D

Wow!!  Amazing and beautiful.  Important work challenging society's assumptions on what beauty is.  This exhibit deserves a national exposure.  Thank you!  ~ JB

Love the exhibits - beautiful women - makes me appreciate my body more.  also as a mother of a transgirl - I love your display of beans: female ~ inbetween/undecided/intransition ~ male

Helps open the minds of others that gender is beyond the binary scale - but a continuum.  Thank you!!

Beautiful work!  Thank you & all of the women shown for the boost of confidence and pride that we should all have in ourselves.  ~ AMG

I love your focus on the "experience" of posing nude.  It really framed the works for me.  ~ AJ

Susan, What an incredible show - on so many levels - the visual excellence is amazing - the creative journey depicted for model and artist is enlightening and empowering for all including the viewer.  It reminds me of a quote from a famous photographer about how you must love your subject.  This is a project of love, creative excellence and a greater vision for social change.  Well done!!!  ~ KB

Thank you for all of thse beautiful women pics.  We are all beautiful in our own ways and you captured them all perfect.  Much love to you.  ~ DL

Absolutely gorgeous renditions!  You make me feel so much more comfortable to be a woman!  ~ BD

Susan, What an inspiring look at real women facing real life.  I can't wait for what's to come!  Blessings.  ~ J

Susan, this is such an amazing event/forum to bring to RVA!  Thank you for your courage.  ~ JS

I stand here in awe with tears welling up in my eyes!  So beautiful and gracious!

Love it!  beautiful, inspiring, courageous, & amazing.  ~ b

Healing images!  and stories.  Thanks!!! ~ MBG

It is all amazing - so reaffirming.  you did a wonderful thing in showing the reality and beauty that lies therein.  Thank you and carry on.  ~ DLH

Susan - I was taken by the joy that came through - in the meeting place between artist/model/viewer/materials - still room for mystery - shadow and pain - but lots of joy.  I, too, loved "Illumination".  Also, faces revealed so much ("Valley") and kept some things hidden.  The vulnerability & beauty of the feet in the Mother/Daughter Jock painting totally moved me.  ~ LS

Thank you to each of you who took the time to think about the show and comment on it.  I am so very grateful for your kind words.  They will inspire me to continue with my work if ever things get tough.
Much love,
Susan

The Opening for Not Barbie was perfect!

It's been way too long since I last wrote a blog entry!  I've missed it, but I was so blasted busy putting on Not Barbie, I couldn't see beyond my eyeballs, much less think cogently enough to write a post!  But I'm back.  I hope.

The opening for Not Barbie: A Celebration of Real Women was perfect as far as I was concerned.  There were zillions of people there from so many different pockets of my life, and there were zillions of people there whom I didn't know yet.  I gave an Artist's Talk at 5:30 which was very well-attended.  I think there were about 200 people there for it.  I felt so honored.  I talked about why I do my art and about how we can begin to change the way we perceive and judge ourselves and others.  I'll talk more about it in a later post.

The evening began with that bang and continued fabulously right on til 9:00 when it finally ended.  Many people came and read all the stories by the models, honoring each and every one of them with their loving attention.  Women came up to me with tears in their eyes, sharing how much the art and the stories mean to them.  Men spoke to me about their own struggles with body image and assured me that it is NOT just a woman's issue.  I am wondering if perhaps I should begin drawing and painting men again to help with the inequity some men felt in my show.  Of course I don't mean to be exclusive.  Men are being portrayed with perfect bodies more and more these days.  It's daunting to try to live up to the perfection that feels demanded of us.  More about that in future posts as well...

In the meantime, I thought I would post some pictures from the exhibition in case you can't make it.  I'm thrilled with how well Crossroads works for such a show - it's a wonderful, huge space with a few smaller walls for intimate pieces as well as large stretches for bold statements.

A Celebration of Life on the entrance wall to the Gallery

Don't Mess with Me on the second entrance wall to the Gallery

Some of the largest pieces on the back wall as you enter, Scar Belly, Mother and Daughter Jocks Bound by Caution, and Joyful, Joyful.

Gaye Adegbalola and other pieces

A smaller corner of the gallery with the interactive exhibits and some of the more intimate pieces.

Wall near the entrance with the lights turned on

another view of the interactive corner.  On the left is an interactive exhibit where you can compare yourself to Barbie, Venus von Willendorf, and a full size model.

Shelia x4 and other pieces.  This area will serve as our stage for the Beyond Barbie nights

Illumination and In Memoriam

 

 

The show will be up until November 7 at Crossroads Art Gallery here in Richmond, Virginia.  I hope you get a chance to see it!

Madelyn Miller's blog post

I was very excited today to find out that Madelyn Miller, the indomitable Travel Lady, mentioned my class, Naked Self Portraiture, in her blog!  The last time she mentioned my artwork was when I did the show 12 Naked Men.  Her blog about that got over 100,000 hits/day!  I'll be curious to see if this one does as well.  If you'd like to see the 12 Naked Men, you can look on my website, susansinger.com to see the ones still available for purchase.

Here's the link if you're curious what she had to say.  It's Monday's post, so you have to scroll down just a little bit.

If you're interested in learning more about the class, here's more information.  I think it's going to be a wonderful class.  We'll take it slow as we explore the idea of being nude in front of others, not to mention ourselves.  The first couple of sessions we'll draw and sculpt body parts we can see with our clothes on.  Gradually, as we build comfort and safety with our fellow classmates, we'll consider other parts.  We'll be using very simple art supplies like Playdoh and finger paint because I want the class to be accessible to artists and non-artists alike.  It is intended to be a playful, joyful exploration of our own incredible beauty.

To sign up, send me an email at susansinger@msn.com, and I'll put you on the list.  We can only take 15 students, so be sure to sign up quickly if you're interested.  We're expecting the class to fill quickly.