NAOMI THORNTON

In my series “Warrior Women”, I highlight the everyday experiences of women that have been undervalued and left out of our historical narratives. In my art, I let myself be drawn to vintage portrait photographs of women taken in the 1800’s and early 1900’s. These images, as found, are clearly embedded within an historical and cultural context. Some of the portraits are set up within the experience of privilege while others are shaped by colonization and exploitation. Using painting and collage, I seek to honor each woman, placing her in a landscape that reflects her resiliency and unique voice. Collage is a process of deconstructing and reassembling, which I experience as freeing a unique story that was captured at a moment in time through photography. I use found images from magazines, books, and online resources combined with handmade papers and text from old books to evoke a layering of desires, hopes, and dreams. I’m very conscious of my own feeling of connection as I place the woman’s image into a rich natural landscape that creates a sense of abundance, safety, and connection to nature as a resource.

As a final step, I use research to uncover what I can about the achievements and struggles of women during that particular historical moment and setting. This is a very important part of the art for me, a way to amplify women’s voices past and present and reclaim forgotten stories of women’s everyday experiences. I finished up the piece “Know When It’s Time to Go” right begore Mother’s Day as I reflected on the complexity of emotions for many people on that holiday. The photo was taken at Ellis Island in 1910. The woman immigrating to the US with her children is identified as being Slovak. I made this piece to honor all the mothers across the world who are uprooted from their motherlands. I think of the incredible stamina and bravery it takes to carry on each day under such stressful conditions. Some are immigrants beginning new lives in unknown lands. Some are refugees fleeing from horrific situations just trying to survive another day with their children. In my mind, they are all the ultimate warriors on behalf of their families. In my art, I have placed this mother and her children in a homeland she will continue to carry within her, as a dream, a memory, a connection to the land, a yearning, a touchstone, a sense of being, that is separate from the distress that propels her to leave.

I offer my gratitude to all the photographers, known and unknown, whose work is a catalyst to my creative process. You can follow my art on Instagram @spirit_is_a_bone_art for more art and stories.

My motivation for my recent series, “Warrior Women”, is to reveal the untold and undervalued stories of women throughout history. I consider these to be our stories to reclaim. I am very drawn to vintage portrait photography; I see a photograph as a moment in time, a real person with a unique story. My materials are vintage photographs, found images, papers, text from old books, and acrylic paint in a process of deconstructing and reassembling to evoke a textured layering of desires and dreams. The Victorian era portraits I select are embedded within an historical/cultural context. I work in an intuitive way letting the images “speak” to me, while also discovering a hidden story about women of that time and locality. As I work on each piece, I write about how I have been impacted by what I have learned working with the image and from the historical research of that photograph. I experience a sense of connection as my story and their stories intertwine to become “Our Stories”. As a psychotherapist, I have witnessed the incredible resiliency of human beings to heal and reach toward wholeness. In my art, I seek to reflect that part of the human spirit. When the Supreme Court decision to end Roe v. Wade came down, for me it felt like an actual physical and existential blow. I grew up before Roe, a time when you could be arrested just for talking about birth control on a college campus. Over my life it felt like the battles that were fought and won would be secure for our daughters, and granddaughters. Even with all the indications, I wasn't prepared for this assault. Soon I came across this image of a woman who appears ready to fiercely protect herself. She is serious and ready to take action. In this piece I hope to honor and draw on her warrior spirit as we again face new battles to regain the most essential rights to make choices that effect our health and well-being. Sometimes, I have wondered how my art in which women may be shown "armed" may be taken. It is paradoxical in the sense that I am a lifelong pacifist and do not support violent solutions. What I present is metaphorical, representing the emotional feelings of being unsafe and under attack. What I am presenting is our ability to fight back against a system of patriarchal colonialist oppression of all marginalized groups. The image is of a real woman, Michelina Di Cesare, who lived 1841-1868 in the village of Capoli in southern Italy. She was born to a poor family during a time of “reunification” of northern and southern Italy. To the people of the South it was an occupation and an attempt to colonize them by the Northern families. Many young men and some women joined the Briganti, bands who used guerilla tactics to resist. The groups hid out in the mountainous area and struck their targets with stealth and sabotage. At age 20, Michelina felt called to be a part of the resistance and quickly earned the name Brigantessa as she became a leader in a small group that employed guerilla tactics. She was a primary tactician and well respected by the men who followed her into combat. She remained fearless all through the campaign of fighting occupational forces until her death at the age of 27 at the hands of soldiers hunting the Briganti. As often happens in the revision of history, her role has been downplayed and the Briganti portrayed as “Outlaws” rather that political resisters.

Naomi Thornton is a mixed media artist, mother, grandmother, and psychotherapist living in Missoula, Montana. In her art and in life, she explores the juxtaposition of these roles. Naomi finds her passion close to the earth having lived off the grid and in community while raising her three children. She was a longtime director at Women’s Opportunity and Resource Development, a feminist organization, creating community for women and working to address issues of poverty, discrimination, and injustice. Naomi’s primary work there was supporting young mothers and families experiencing homelessness. She currently is a psychotherapist in private practice.

Naomi is a self-taught artist who always felt the strong pull to create with her hands and her heart. Her early memories are as a four-year old creating a world of solace and adventure with a pencil and crayons. She grew up with her mother painting in oils at the dining room table. At 15, she was creating large multilayered collages that reflected the turmoil of growing up in the 60’s. She has worked in a variety of mediums including those considered to be craft such as beadwork, dollmaking, leatherwork, and pottery. She started painting with acrylics at age 50 with a focus on large paintings of women using photographs for inspiration. As she turned 60, she shifted to small scale collage 5” x 8” cards that serve as a tool for self-exploration. She went on to facilitate workshops teaching non-artists to use this process for healing and self-discovery for over 10 years. More recently the pandemic became a catalyst to embark on her current body of mixed media work. Her two recent series “Warrior Women” and “ Healing Our Inner Child” show the strong influence of being a deep listener to the personal stories of so many over the years. Her artwork and the stories that go with it can be found on Instagram @spirit_is_a_bone_art.