On Her Terms: Feminine Power Embodied features New England artists who foreground the human body in their work to engage contemporary issues around women’s rights. Taking inspiration from concepts including the Woman Life Freedom movement, modern rap, historical gynecological tools, and Victorian hair weaving, these artists identify the body as a site of empowerment. Whether represented through stark archival photography, delicate graphite drawings, or a dazzling maximalist aesthetic, the feminine form becomes an intimate place to reclaim personal agency and reckon with systems that politicize gender. 

This exhibition includes artwork by Azita Moradkhani, Catherine McCarthy, Claudia Olds Goldie, Lindsey Beal, Maria Yolanda Liebana, Minoo Emami, and Nafis M. White. Their multi-media work balances the personal and collective histories of women existing under gender oppressive regimes—themes of vulnerability and ferocity, radical joy and elegy emerge in interlacing narratives of self-reclamation. 

On Her Terms: Feminine Power Embodied features seven contemporary artists who identify the body as a site of empowerment. Working in diverse media, artists Azita Moradkhani, Catherine McCarthy, Claudia Olds Goldie, Lindsey Beal, Maria Yolanda Liebana, Minoo Emami, and Nafis White experiment with representations of feminine embodiment to explore the personal and collective histories of women existing within oppressive social and political environments. 

Taking inspiration from the movement for women’s rights in Iran, modern hip hop, historical gynecological tools, and Victorian hair weaving, these artists engage the feminine form as a site for personal reckoning with historical traumas and their impacts upon daily life in the present. Patriarchal political systems, cultural norms, and religious demands of femininity are called into question. Rather than simply bearing the weight of such heavy histories, these artists focus on radical joy and beauty to reassert agency over themselves and their surroundings.

Throughout this exhibition, the body often appears distorted, swathed in mesmerizing patterns, or removed from sight entirely. Disjointed limbs evoke the dehumanizing demands placed upon feminine presentation and conduct within the law, popular media, religious traditions, and family histories. Intricate fabrics and tattoos highlight the strength, beauty, and vitality of unfettered personal expression. Even when hidden from view, the body feels present, calling attention to the void where a form should be. Whether represented through stark archival photography, delicate graphite drawings, or a dazzling maximalist aesthetic, the feminine form becomes an intimate place to reclaim autonomy and confront the politicization of gender. 

The artists of On Her Terms entice the world to see reality through their eyes and experiences. Every work within this exhibition constitutes an act of reclamation: the continuous practice of rejecting ascribed, restrictive formats for experiencing femininity and exploring self-fashioned approaches to personal expression and freedom. 

This exhibition was organized by former FAM Curator Lauren Szumita and Terry and Eva Herndon Assistant Curator Eli Yung. On Her Terms: Feminine Power Embodied is supported in part by the Simonds Lecture Fund.