Artist Iris Hauser will be speaking about her exhibition "Crone Ascendant" on at the Weyburn Art Gallery.
Artist Statement for Crone Ascendant: In Praise of Older Women
Once upon a time a public art gallery was a place where the public could view art made by white men. Lately there has been a great push to diversify this base, with an emphasis on including the voices and visions of BIPoC and gender fluid people. This has added long overdue authenticity and depth to the world of art. However, one group has been curiously omitted from this adjustment. Although I have seen dozens of exhibitions exploring indigenous identity and concerns, (representing 5% of the population), I have never seen or heard of any exhibition regarding the experiences of senior women (comprising 15.6% of the Canadian population).
There is an old joke that goes ‘what magic trick can all women over fifty perform?’. The answer: ‘to become invisible’.
As a woman who came of age in the time of Gloria Steinem and Betty Friedan, I have spent a lot of time contemplating age-old precepts and preconceptions about the place of women in society. For over half a century I have witnessed the seemingly endless war that has taken place over women’s bodies, from the battle of control over our reproductive rights to challenging our objectification as sexual toys for boys. Pornography and the beauty industry have created an artificial and unattainable ideal of the feminine that has wreaked havoc on our self-esteem and confidence. My most recent exploration of these topics was in my touring show ‘Dress Codes’ in 2015-2018, a collaborative portrait series of women examining variations in the presentation and performance of femininity.
‘Crone Ascendant’ carries this collaborative portrait series forward into an older demographic. The battles of this age are quite different from that of younger women struggling to form their identity. As I enter this period of life, I see an amazing cohort of women who know themselves, and understand life in a rich, deep way. These women bring tremendous value to the community at large as mentors, protectors, activists, and caregivers, motivated primarily from a nurturing perspective. The women I am profiling are diverse, but all share in the possession of extraordinary wisdom and experience.