FIGHT ON!

A series of mixed media works by Tanya Wilkinson 

“Nevertheless she persisted.”

Women actively pursued suffrage for more than a hundred years before achieving it 100 years ago. The right to vote remains difficult to exercise for many Americans in many places. We must persist in securing that right. My new series, “Fight On”, uses images of the suffragettes as an embodiment of persistence in the face of violent, entrenched privilege. We can use the memory of that struggle as inspiration in the current fight to secure the right to vote for all citizens.

The suffragettes were imperfect but the legacy of their decades long fight remains. Women’s suffrage itself is being attacked in the alt-right. They correctly see women as a force they need to neuter in order to attain their goals. We must fight on.

This series of works uses vintage images of suffragettes. The suffragettes of the early 20th century used their clothing to express their cause. They fashioned pinafores printed with bold messages, transforming themselves into walking billboards. Their preferred colors were purple, white and green or purple, white and gold: purple to signify dignity, white to signify purity of purpose, green to convey a fresh start and gold to symbolize the light of life.