13 Ways of Looking

Jan 23-March 25, 2025

Reception February 13, 2025, 12noon-1pm

Seattle Ethnic Art Gallery

Address: 700 5th Ave, 3rd Floor Lobby, Seattle, WA

13 Ways of Looking Catalog (free download)

Inspired by Wallace Stevens’s Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird, this exhibition delves into the transformative power of perspective through portraits of Artemisia Gentileschi and other notable women artists. By inviting viewers to explore her story from multiple angles, my work reveals the complexities of Gentileschi’s legacy and highlights how perspective shapes perception. 

BtA 38 (Jane Kaufman), Mixed media on canvas, 72″ x 70″, 2024

As a visual Jungian, I employ metaphors to portray the Archetypal Bride as a symbol of liminality and transformation. The compositions, adorned with zigzagging ribbons, flowers, warped mirrors, and butterflies, play with exaggeration and bold color to reflect distorted ideations and archetypal possibilities. This celebration of fluid interpretation blurs the lines where art and alchemy meet, inviting deeper engagement with the narratives of these remarkable women.

Looking 1 (Artemisia), Mixed media on cradled board, 14″ x 11″, 2024
Looking 2 (Artemisia), Mixed media on cradled wood, 14″ x 11″, 2024
Looking 3 (Artemisia), Mixed media on cradled board, 14″ x 11″, 2024
Looking 4 (Artemisia), 24″ x 16″, Mixed media on Cradled Clayboard, 2024
Looking 5 (Artemisia), Mixed media on cradled wood, 14″ x 11″, 2024
Looking 6 (Artemisia), Mixed media on cradled wood, 14″ x 11″, 2024
Looking 7 (Artemisia), Mixed media on cradled wood, 14″ x 11″, 2024
Looking 8 (Artemisia), Mixed media on cradled wood, 14″ x 11″, 2024, $500
Looking 9 (Artemisia), Mixed media on cradled wood, 14″ x 11″, 2024
Looking 10 (Artemisia), Mixed media on cradled wood, 14″ x 11″, 2024
Looking 11 (Artemisia), Mixed media on cradled board, 24″ x 16″, 2024
Looking 12 (Artemisia), Mixed media on cradled panel, 14″ x 11″, 2024
Looking 13 (Artemisia), Mixed media on cradled panel, 24″ x 16″, 2024

I chose to examine Artemisia Gentileschi from many perspectives because her life embodies resilience and transformation. After surviving rape by her teacher and enduring brutal judicial interrogation during the Spanish Inquisition, she won her case and became one of the Baroque era’s most acclaimed artists. Her works graced the collections of European royalty, yet her legacy was obscured for centuries—until feminist art historians unearthed her hidden masterpieces, reigniting public fascination with her powerful canvases.

Looking 1 (Belkis Ayon), Mixed media on cradled panel, 20″ x 20″ , 2024
Looking 2 (Belkis Ayon), Mixed media on cradled panel, 20″ x 20″ , 2024
Looking 3 (Belkis Ayon), Mixed media on canvas, 16″ x 20″, 2024

Belkis Ayón is another artist who deeply fascinates me, and I hope to create ten more pieces exploring her legacy. A renowned Cuban artist, Ayón mastered collography, a printmaking technique that uses collaged materials to create richly textured plates. My own process of crafting portrait assemblages from paper scraps, ribbons, and other humble materials draws inspiration from her groundbreaking innovations. I am particularly captivated by her bold reimagining of male-dominated mythologies—a theme that resonates profoundly with my own creative instincts.

BtA 19 (Laura Wheeler Waring), Oil on canvas, 30″ x 22″, 2023

This canvas honors Laura Wheeler Waring, a celebrated Harlem Renaissance artist known for her masterful portraits and over 30 years of dedicated teaching. Highly respected in her field, Waring’s portraits were commissioned by prestigious foundations and showcased in renowned institutions, including the National Portrait Gallery and the Brooklyn Museum.
BtA 33 (Sara Gomez), Mixed media on canvas, 36″ x 30″, 2023

I deeply admire Sara Gómez, the trailblazing Cuban filmmaker renowned for her commitment to social justice, especially her focus on Afro-Cuban communities, women’s issues, and the struggles of marginalized groups. In her lifetime, she was one of only two Black filmmakers at the Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematográficos—and the only woman. Her legacy underscores a persistent issue: the underrepresentation of women and directors of color in the film industry, a problem that remains deeply entrenched in both of my homelands.

BtA 38 (Jane Kaufman), Mixed media on canvas, 72″ x 70″, 2024

I greatly admire Jane Kaufman’s artwork, activism, and career as an educator. A trailblazer in the Pattern and Decoration (P&D) movement, her impeccable sense of design embraced feminist praxis through her choice of materials and bold critiques. As a member of the Guerrilla Girls, Kaufman stood apart by rejecting anonymity—a defiant act, given that the collective still uses pseudonyms honoring deceased female artists to shield members from retaliation. Her fearless stance underscores the enduring need for change in an art world still grappling with the inequities the Guerrilla Girls have long protested.

Inquiries: info@tatianagarmendia

Downloadable price list

13 Ways of Looking Catalog (free download)