Askance 2016

Curator: This is Terri Kelly Moyers’ "Askance" painted in 2016. Editor: The word that immediately comes to mind is ‘labor’. She seems caught between worlds, dressed for hard work, but her stance says she needs a break. There is so much tactile sensibility here, how her white linen blouse shines, the weave of her skirt and the textures of her hat. I am already thinking about the conditions this artwork and sitter were created under. Curator: Indeed, her glance certainly evokes some sort of unease or distrust; her hat becomes almost like a shield, held in front, a protective object of familiarity. It feels charged with some unspoken narrative. Is she turning away from something, or someone? Editor: Perhaps! But consider the work it takes to simply render fabric this well! Look at how the light shifts on the blouse – not just painting light for light’s sake but truly understanding how cloth drapes and falls. She has chosen that piece of fabric carefully as the core focal point, she asks you to consider how cloth feels. How garments relate to their purpose as labor. What do you see when you are constantly sewing and manufacturing garments? Curator: True. And that scarf, askew and loose about her neck, a further symbol of interrupted labor; yet to the eyes she appears a complex mix of surrender, vulnerability, yet a watchful resolve. And note her jewelry. Those delicate earrings draw the gaze up towards her expressive features, almost echoing with inner strength, challenging us to look closer, to know better. The garment looks so contemporary for our era, yet she has classical jewelry. What does this signal for the sitter? Editor: Well, considering it as a symbol, could also suggest that while garments provide covering they often fail. And they have limits of functionality when things need to actually happen. What stories the earrings could tell if fabrics have ears. Curator: So very true! Well, I think it invites an interesting discussion on the dualities of life, particularly female experiences in recent decades. Editor: I agree; the focus on garments speaks to the current fast-fashion crisis. This picture provides new historical ways of addressing labor to consider.