The long history of women being deprived of gallery wall space, especially those working on a large scale, was the inspiration for my performance, “Tales.” I wore a monumental painting martyr-style over my shoulders in a procession through the throngs attending “EMINENT DOMAIN,” an international, radical feminist exhibition and performance program. With my painting and writing I work in defiance of our current society’s valuation of women as “too much” — we think too much, we feel too much, we talk too much, we demand too much. I specifically consider and push back against all the ways that I might be expected to accommodate for my “excesses.” Instead of cropping and minimizing my ideas, I consciously find ways to embrace and celebrate them.

For the event, I slowly moved through the crowd gathered in the gallery space maneuvering my canvas cape with the help of family and friends. At the conclusion of my march, I stopped to read from my collection of fictional fables inspired by lessons revealed by the process of making my abstract paintings. As with Mother Goose’s instructional tales, my stories warn of emotional censorship. I stood reading while wearing my cape, just as she shelters her children under her wing while sharing her wisdom.