Study for "Blue Dress" by Angela Fraleigh

Angela Fraleigh

Study for "Blue Dress"

Watercolor on yupo

The women reading series examines and explores images throughout history of various women in the private act of reading. At first glance the figures are passive, but, reading is an inherently active pursuit. They may be time traveling, embodying a different race, gender, economic class, a different species, a different planet. It might be pleasurable, horrifying, edifying... reading opens up possibility, shows potential, allows for empathy and compassion and ignites the imagination.

A whole world is happening within them while they are being objectified. That points to the heart of my ongoing project.... which examines how we understand images, what lens we look through when we encounter images, and the gulf of space between what we think we know and what we could know. It explores the way we are forever compressing all the complexities of the human experience and the power dynamics inherent within that unintentional act.

Women were actively barred for centuries from becoming literate out of fear of what they might learn/ do with that knowledge. The quakes of that remain today, as Nearly 2/3 of the worlds illiterate adults are women.

Email Facebook X LinkedIn Pinterest

From Angela Fraleigh

Study for "We tell beginnings"

Watercolor on yupo

20 x 26 x 0 in (50.8 x 66.04 x 0.0 cm)
Splinters of a Secret Sky: Splinters

Oil and acrylic on canvas, individual painting from larger installation

96 x 72 x 2 in (243.84 x 182.88 x 5.08 cm)
Study after James Tissot

Watercolor on yupo

20 x 26 in (50.8 x 66.04 cm)
Study in Yellow

Watercolor on yupo
Study for "Octavia Butler Reading"

Watercolor on yupo
Study for "Veronica Mars Reading"

Watercolor on yupo
Study for "With ready eyes"

Watercolor on yupo
With ready eyes

Oil on paper mounted on canvas

66 x 90 x 2 in (167.64 x 228.6 x 5.08 cm)

View All Artworks

Additional Details

Additional Artworks

Study for "We tell beginnings"

Splinters of a Secret Sky: Splinters

Study after James Tissot

Study in Yellow

Study for "Octavia Butler Reading"

Study for "Veronica Mars Reading"

Study for "With ready eyes"

With ready eyes