Tara Rose Toner

Artist Statement

The seductive nature of a woman is powerful, in some cases so powerful she may be accused of sorcery. My disgust for the unethical treatment, suppression and torture of women in other countries inspires me to embrace the freedom and choices we have as women in America to choose how we carry ourselves.

When I began working on this series, I utilized the female figure to communicate my personal angst as a young woman bombarded with overly sexualized images of females in the media. I felt an overwhelming pressure to conform to this standard. I began expressively painting the female figure in sensual poses, with heavy paint, weighing on the canvas as these pressures weigh down on me. I chose to depict the subject in arbitrary colors representing the unrealistic pressures being placed upon young women. As I continued to explore this conflict, I came to a realization: yes, Western culture may objectify women in the media, yet at the same time we have also come very far.

In Papua New Guinea on February 6th, 2013, a twenty-year-old woman, Kepari Leniata, was stripped, tortured and burned alive on accusations of witchcraft. European and American witchcraft accusations date back to to the 15th century where women were commonly accused of misunderstood misfortunes and sometimes due to their seductive nature. A document written in 1487, The Malleus Maleficarum was used as a tool to define and prosecute witchcraft, and states: "All witchcraft comes from carnal lust which in a woman is insatiable"(47). Today, in America the idea of a woman being punished for her carnal lust on accusations of witchcraft is absurd, yet there once was a time where this was the case, and tragically today it is still the case in some cultures.

Morays that go back to the Pharaohs four thousand years ago, probably designed to protect the human species by hiding and suppressing women, who are the source of human propagation, have continued in many parts of the world, and have evolved into repression, stereotypes, violence and enslavement of women to this day. In fact, within the most suppressive cultures in the world today, rape and violence against women are the most prevalent.

As an artist, it is my aspiration to encourage all women of every age, in every place throughout the world to freely and fearlessly always own choice of her body, mind and soul. I paint for those who are blind, yet can feel and touch what I feel, and for those who think they see but fail to feel for the plight of women.

To this end, I continue painting the female figure in its naturally free and seductive form. I use aggressive strokes in applying heavy oil paint, conveying a strong, powerful figure that owns her womanhood. I adorn some of my figures with roses that symbolize the fragile, blossoming beauty of the female body, while at the same time embodies the fleeting, miraculous power of fertility.