ELIZABETH CASTALDO
I work in mixed media, combining collage, drawing, and printmaking to created works on paper and artists books that explore the connection of feminine sensuality to nature and its manifestations in modern culture. This installation considers the idea of hair, which has been symbolically associated with power and sexuality in myth across cultures, an association which continues in popular culture. Hair is probably the easiest part of our body to manipulate making it a popular way to make a statement about our own images and identities. Hair has also consistently been a way for society to inflict expectations of social and gender norms onto our bodies. This installation considers ideas of entanglement, generation, nurture, and the femme fatale. I wish to equate femininity with a powerful force of creation and sexuality independent of the desire of others. Always underlying my work is the exploration of what it means to be female and hold the potential for creation and power while also internalizing the expectations of a society that wants women to be simultaneously sex object and exemplifier of chaste purity.
A Lucky Cut
317 Main Street
FUN FACTS
Favorite Artist?
Louise Bourgeois, Agnes Martin, Frido Kahlo, Ellen Gallagher, Kiki Smith, so many more.
Left or Right?
Are we talking about hands or politics?
Coffee or Tea?
Coffee, even though i've been trying to switch to tea
Favorite medium to work in?
Collage, watercolor, drawing, and anything you can print on a letterpress
What do you think your spirit animal is?
I'd say my Patronus is probably a deer
Favorite food?
Almost any type of tacos
Favorite cocktail?
The Last Word: equal parts gin, chartreuse, marachino liqueur and lime juice
Best childhood memory?
Being at summer camp
Favorite vacation spot?
Someplace I've never been before.
What cartoon character would you be?
Jane from "Daria"
Favorite movie?
Probably something by David Lynch or Wes Anderson, two very different filmmakers.
If you had to spend a night in jail who would you want to spend it with?
Friends
Most influential work of art?
Frida Kahlo's "The Two Frida's"