Trappings: Portraits
Portland International Airport, Portland, OR. April - October 2011

Introduction to Trappings: Portraits

What do you wear that makes you feel powerful?  How about the woman next to you at the bank?  In line with you at security?  Think about your mother or your sister.  What would she put on to reveal her power source to the world? 

If you received an invitation to come to a party where you would be interviewed, on camera, in a group of ten other women, to respond to the question: what do you wear that makes you feel powerful?, how would you respond? Would you respond at all or would you shy away, claiming other obligations? Would you agree to attend, knowing there is safety in numbers? Would you try on a dozen outfits and bring six of them with you to illustrate the complicated nature of power in your life? Or do you know immediately what your single power source is?

This is exactly the scenario the artist collaboration Two Girls Working created to investigate how women define and present power in their lives.  They have asked more than 600 women across the United States the question: what do you wear that makes you feel powerful?  The artists met with 76 groups of women in fifteen states over a period of seven years.  

Women’s responses to this question are the multi-part project Trappings.   For this exhibition at PDX, the artists are presenting portraits of seven participants taken after their interview sessions to expand the women’s stories.  This process was part of the creation of their book, Trappings: Stories of Women, Power and Clothing.  The photographs on the pedestal are the portraits taken at the interview sessions.  The portraits on the wall are from the follow up meetings.  The texts and audio works are excerpts from the women’s  interviews.   

Watch a 10 minute film about Trappings *

* What do I do with this barcode? Use the barcode scanning software on your smartphone (download the software from the apps store) to scan these barcodes. You’ll then be able to watch Trappings videos or visit the websites.

You can purchase a copy of Trappings at the Powell’s Books in PDX.