Know When It Is Time to Go: A Slovak Woman and her children from a photograph taken at Ellis Island in 1910, Naomi Thornton  
Mixed media on cradled board, acrylic, vintage photo, papers, images, 11” X 14” , 2021

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.