The above images are partial installation views of "I'M 101 AND I HAVE BEEN SO MANY WOMEN"
a continuous drawing project that includes over 101 drawings in variable configurations, 2024 - present

 

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Gail Rickards

A statement on the “I’M 101 AND I HAVE BEEN SO MANY WOMEN” drawing project: 

 

I was scrolling on social media and heard an elderly woman say something akin to ”I am 101 and I have been so many women.”…and it stopped me. Betty Reid Soskin (known as the ‘oldest US National Park Ranger’) was being interviewed by ‘Brief But Spectacular’. I didn’t know who she was, but what she was saying about her life deeply resonated with me.

 

Inspired by her words that embody the diverse layers of individual experience, “I’M 101 AND I HAVE BEEN SO MANY WOMEN” is an ongoing drawing project consisting of more than 101 small acrylic and watercolor works on paper. Started in July of 2024 and using a self-imposed structure, this drawing project explores a jumbled timeline of personal narratives where I survey, take stock, and document. This project has become a portrait of the women I have been…an ongoing dive into memory, ambition, relationships, and the power of perspective that comes with time.

 

The configuration of “I’M 101 AND I HAVE BEEN SO MANY WOMEN” is variable; the drawings can be shown in a grid format, in a continuous line circumnavigating a space, or in other groups of differing shapes and numbers. Each drawing is individually titled.