Striking images: Artist Lucy Finch draws on parallels between rattlesnakes and strong women
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When Lucy Finch moved to Las Vegas, New Mexico, in 2021, the Missouri-born artist had never lived around rattlesnakes.
She decided to research them in the hopes that it would quell her fears. Instead, she found parallels to her own life that mushroomed into a series.
鈥淭he way people were treating rattlesnakes was similar to the way people treat women in our society,鈥� Finch said. 鈥淎s a woman, I have continually felt all kinds of unjustified anger; 鈥業 just say hello to you and you鈥檙e on the attack.鈥� People lash out.鈥�
Striking images: Artist Lucy Finch draws on parallels between rattlesnakes and strong women
The project鈥檚 inspiration came from a PBS story about a 鈥淩attlesnake Roundup.鈥�
鈥淚 replaced the snake-related words with words about strong women and I think it reads the same,鈥� Finch said. For example, 鈥淪trong women have long struck terror in many people 鈥� the unfortunate result of this fear is that some people routinely kill any strong woman they encounter, even those who pose no threat.鈥�
That snake investigation evolved into a series she calls 鈥淩attlesnakes,鈥� a collection of 13 portraits of strong New Mexico women, now on view at Gallery OneSixSix in Las Vegas, New Mexico, through Oct. 5.
Even in contemporary art, some artists claim they love the female form, but then they cut the head off, Finch said.
鈥淎nd when you kill rattlesnakes, you behead them,鈥� she added.
So the artist decided to paint pastel portraits of strong women in northern New Mexico, relying on word-of-mouth to source them.
As she worked at her easel, Finch鈥檚 subjects opened up, telling her of the heartache in their life stories.
Some had received death threats, many were abused during childhood and/or marriage. One awoke to her husband trying to kill her.
鈥淭o have these really difficult lives and come out smiling again,鈥� Finch said, 鈥測ou have to choose how to manage it.
鈥淪o often these women got married right after high school and this person was not a good fit,鈥� she added.
Some left their marriages, raised their kids alone and returned to school to develop careers.
The women posed from two to four times. Finch spent about a month on each portrait.
鈥淓velyn鈥� radiated joy in her 70s. Born and raised in Wagon Mound, she had lived a challenging life through a career in social work.
鈥淪he is in love with life,鈥� Finch said. 鈥淪he lived through all this and came out the other side. Part of it is being retired; your life can slow down a bit. She has dedicated her retirement to doing the things she loves with the people she loves.鈥�
鈥淟aureen鈥� was 鈥渂orn into heartache,鈥� the artist said.
鈥淪he had a really abusive household. Her father and his sisters showed her what kindness was. She found her inner strength and was able to break away from the abuse, and has dedicated her life to helping people break away from their abuse. She was a teacher and she fought for her students.鈥�
鈥淵olanda鈥� never had a career. But she ended up performing volunteer work and discovered she was an excellent community organizer, Finch said.
A onetime advertising designer, Finch took up painting just five years ago when she was sailing up the Inside Passage on the way to Alaska.
鈥淲hen I was up there, I met a woman willing to teach me techniques that date back to the Renaissance,鈥� she said. 鈥淏efore I met her, my stuff looked cartoonish.鈥�
Today she supports herself by performing remote data entry, teaching belly dancing and walking dogs, she said.
鈥淚鈥檓 part of the gig economy.鈥�
