- Textual Portraits
In the series Textual Portraits, I am interested in visualizing the historical context of women’s lives and conveying a sense of social heritage. This work starts with an image of a contemporary woman, often a scholar, artist, or student, who has made an impression on me. I select a classic social text that has relevance for the woman’s life. With image and text prepared, I begin typing on a manual typewriter. I have a small collection of typewriters, but my studio workhorse is an Underwood with an extended carriage, named Gwen after the British painter Gwen John.
The titles of these works reference my source materials. For example, Lois (Woolf 1929) is a portrait of artist Lois Dodd created with Virginia Woolf’s 1929 essay A Room of One’s Own. I met Lois during a studio visit at Vermont Studio Center. I chose this text to create her image because, in 1952, she was a founding member of one the first artist-run cooperative galleries in New York. She created a public space for artists to share their work. A Room of One’s Own was written only two years after Lois’s birth, and therefore partially describes the time period in which she was born.
By interlocking the historic words and the contemporary image, I hope to convey the context of time and place. I create portraits with text to emphasize the weight of words and to allude to the idea that our lives are the creations of our minds and social constructs.
Click for larger view
View full resolution
[End Page 114]
Click for larger view
View full resolution
[End Page 115]
Click for larger view
View full resolution
[End Page 116]
Click for larger view
View full resolution
[End Page 117]
Click for larger view
View full resolution
[End Page 118]
Click for larger view
View full resolution
[End Page 119]
Click for larger view
View full resolution
[End Page 120]
leslie nichols uses found and original text to create visual imagery. A recent NEA Studio Residency Grant from Women’s Studio Workshop supported experiments in letterpress printing. Her work has been recognized with additional grants from the Elizabeth Green-shields Foundation, AAUW, the Kentucky Foundation for Women, and the Great Meadows Foundation. Her studio is in Bowling Green, Kentucky.