Miriam Stern – “Shaw & Stern V” digital monoprint

The prints and collages I am submitting are part of a series I did called Shaw & Stern. In the summer of 2015 I vis-ited Mass MOCA and saw an exhibition by Jim Shaw. For several pieces Shaw fabricated wigs, outrageous wigs that appeared in paintings and sculptures. In the late 90’s I had an exhibition using wigs as my theme. Although our intentions were different I was fascinated by his art and took photographs. When I came back to my studio I “collaborated” with Jim Shaw using the photos of his work with images from my own series. Using digital and traditional printmaking I created this new body of work that consists of monoprints and monoprint/collages.  The transformation of who we are by wearing wigs not only changes our faces but I believe goes much deeper. In my original series I explored how wigs and clothing (worn by religious women as a sign of modesty) change not only a woman’s appearance but also her personality, self-conception, and world view.   Revisiting this series now using prints and paintings that I made years ago together with Jim Shaw’s outrageous wigs adds another layer of meaning to the same questions I posed then. These more extreme images of women in wigs and weird hairdos add elements of humor, fright, fun, and the ridiculous. However, the questions I raised years ago still resonate. What do these hairdos hide or disclose about the women who wear them?