Femme Fatale: protofeminist or just a very naughty girl?

March is Women's History month. During this time I am contemplating my position as a female artist, creating narrative art.

2019 Leslie Peterson Sapp Many a Moon

Part of the enduring fascination we have with noir is the inclusion of powerful female characters. The zenith of film noir was from the 1930’s-1950’s a time of extraordinary change for women, particularly during WWII, when they took up jobs vacated by men who were off at war. The war, plus the changing role of women in society, created nationwide anxiety, much like the anxiety evidenced in our own times.

However, with some exceptions, the classic femme fatale of those times was not a feminist figure. She is not a fully developed character in her own right, but tends to act as a foil for a male character's unfolding drama. Many people think she is a protofeminist, whose disruptive presence and self-serving motivations were a meaningful precursor to the feminist movement.

A terrific article in Crime Reads "The Evolution of The Femme Fatale in Film Noir", Halley Sutton describes the evolution of the femme fatale from the heyday of film noir to the neo noir of today. Her use of her sexual power to get what she wants is still intact, but her personhood is affirmed and sometimes she is even the primary character! Imagine that!

2020 Leslie Peterson Sapp Gamp

In my own work I am wrestling with the issues of stereotypes- am I perpetuating them? Does the work I produce actually uphold my values? My use of nostalgia and depictions of a by-gone era seems to give me license to stay in my comfort zones and repeatedly depict figures that are young, slender, and largely white.
The only answer I have for that is that I keep trying. I keep questioning myself, educating myself and seeing how I can stretch my comfort zones.
What new dramas unfold?

Art in the Time of Covid

I have been fortunate that my life has gone fairly smoothly during the Covid-19 crisis, despite upended expectations and uncertainty about the future. Despite it all, I have an exhibition coming up on August 8^th at RiverSea Gallery in Astoria, Oregon!

As is the case with every art show there is a lot to do, accompanied with the anxious hope that the opening will go well. Will it be well attended? Will there be any sales? But art in the time of Covid has brought these typical concerns to a new level.

Riversea Gallery has reopened with the changes that all business now require, such as masks and social distancing (fortunately it is a very large space!) But this opening is going to be like none I’ve ever had before. Attendance is impossible to predict. The normal wine and snacks will not be served. And this time there will be extra efforts made to share it all on the web. Watch for videos uploaded onto my Instagram account, maybe even Facebook live. Like so many of us, I am frantically ascending the steep learning curve of online technology!

Additionally, I will provide an artist talk, but this time it will be virtual, probably in the form of a Zoom call. I will provide a short talk on exhibit, then open the “room” up for questions.
Although the opportunity to interact in physical space will not be there, there are some terrific advantages! For one, you can participate from your home, and if you are not presentable, you can block out your video camera and still participate, grubbies and all!

I will be keeping you all apprised of links and times to participate in my newsletters, social media and on my website home page.

Adventures in Intaglio!

I took intaglio and woodcut back in college almost 30 years ago. Since that time I have contemplated restarting my interest in printmaking, and now I have finally pulled the trigger.

I enrolled in a printmaking course at Portland Community College. Signing up for a class two days a week for 11 weeks is no small commitment! But it turns out it was barely enough time to scratch the surface (no pun intended!) of the possibilities and complexities of this medium.

Intaglio is a process where lines are etched or scratched onto a metal plate. Ink is applied to the plate, then wiped, leaving ink captured within the lines. Then damp paper is placed on the plate, and is rolled through a printing press. The ink transfers onto the paper, creating an image. 

In total, I did three different plates over the course of the semester.The first one I did is called "The Bitter Sea" (5"x7")

Here is a picture of the inked up copper plate before the first printing:

Here is an image of the print after rolling it through the press.

Notice the image gets reversed when transferred to the paper!

This initial state of the print was done entirely with drypoint (which is simply scratching the image onto the plate with a metal object).

Here I added aquatint, which creates fields of varying shades of grey.

The second plate I developed might be called my magnum opus of the semester. It is named "Vacancy" (8"x10")

Utimately I did a total of 11 states before deciding it was finished!

I decided to utilize some of the earlier states by tinting them with watercolor. I’m fascinated by how the mood can very so greatly with different color schemes.

The final piece I did was a tiny 4”x6” image, based on a jazz record album from the 50’s, called “Struttin’”.

 Although I would LOVE to keep going with the printmaking, it is necessary for me to put it aside for the time being and concentrate on some collage painting projects coming up this year. Keep you eyes open for more news of those projects, and when they are completed, I will surely dive back into printmaking! 

Stay tuned...

"A Brief Primer on Film Noir - Part Two: Oh, the Drama!"

Film noir movies are modern day myths.

“Catharsis” is from the Greek word “kathairein”, meaning “to cleanse, purge.” Aristotle first used this as a metaphor to describe how watching tragic drama can inspire feelings that brings about spiritual renewal or release from tension.

In much the same way someone may like a good war movie or punk rock, yet has no desire to engage in combat or live a chaotic, drug-addled life, many of us achieve a certain catharsis by watching the sufferings of the glamorous figures in a good film noir.

The characters in film noir practice a lot of bad behavior I would never condone. Aside from how much they smoke and drink, they lie, they cheat, they extort and manipulate. I am a person who enjoys a life of minimal drama. Yet it is the drama that I love in film noir! The dream I weave in my pictures is a version of me who is, in a word: clever. Someone who sees through others and can manipulate a situation to her advantage. Very unlike who I really am. But I am utterly uninterested in living a life that would result from being that kind of person. So, I watch it from a safe distance.

In my collage paintings, I use the drama of a noir-esque scene to draw in the viewer not only by depicting figures in evocative, cryptic situations, but by how I organize and compose the image.

In the book “Somewhere in the Night”, Nicholas Christopher describes the noir cityscape as a labyrinth, which reflects the complexity of the movie plot, the inner workings of the protagonist’s mind, and symbolizes the Hero’s Journey into the depths of the soul.

The space depicted in my collage paintings is congested and complicated, sometimes difficult for the viewer to navigate. It is evocative of complicated plot twists and reversals. Lately I have been playing with mirrors, doorways and windows, which I see as apertures into other worlds and realities. The claustrophobic, complex space illustrates the sometimes turgid complexity of our minds and relationships.

The dark, chiaroscuro lighting symbolizes secrets withheld, obscured meaning. Objects and figures that are normally easily identified are shattered and broken down into their essential shapes without superfluous detail. They are transformed, turned upside-down, into something new, special, rarefied.

Eddie Muller, film noir’s preeminent expert, describes it perfectly:

"SUFFERING WITH STYLE.”

“The men and women of this sinister cinematic world are driven by greed, lust, jealousy, and revenge—which leads inexorably to existential torment, soul-crushing despair, and a few last gasping breaths in a rain-soaked gutter. But I'll be damned if these lost souls don't look sensational riding the Hades Express. If you're going straight to hell, you might as well travel with some style to burn.

“Today, the cynicism and fatalism found in classic film noir seems almost comforting compared to the ugliness and pessimism we confront in the media, on movie screens, and in the streets. We watch film noir with an endless fascination, and an undeniable aspect of our fascination is the realization that, as a culture, we will never be that stylish again.”

http://noiralley.tcm.com/noir-101