Why Women Artists?

Early in my life I began collecting names of women artists. They were mentioned so infrequently and those that were I could count on one hand. Sometimes I found them in books. Sometimes in museum exhibits. Sometimes hidden in footnotes, sidebars, and passing references. One name led to another. A painter introduced me to a sculptor. A sculptor led to a photographer. A photograph led to a movement. Slowly a vibrant history of women artists began to reveal itself.
The women I found came from different centuries, countries, and artistic traditions. Some achieved recognition during their lifetimes. Others were forgotten and later rediscovered. Some worked within the expectations of their era. Others challenged it directly.
They painted.
They sculpted.
They experimented.
They taught.
They created.
And they left something behind.
Each artist is presented, in the book and music video, rendered in the style in which she worked. Rather than reproducing existing paintings, the illustrations imagine moments that reflect the people, places, and influences that shaped her creative journey.
The goal is not to explain these women. We cannot know them as they knew themselves.
We know them through their work, their words, their accomplishments, and the traces of their lives that remain.
This collection is offered in appreciation of what they left behind.
Looking back, I kept track of all their names.
The women have always been there.