After writing a challenging and personal piece about coping with my grief after the loss of my sister and Eels' incredibly emotional Electro-Shock Blues album, I needed to take a break for a few days to gather my thoughts before diving back into writing.
Throughout the previous week, I read very little and only listened to music when walking our dogs or at work. There’s always music playing in our home, yet I needed the silence to catch my breath, reset, and collect my thoughts.
I had a few initial ideas for this post, but when I started writing, I found myself at an overwhelming loss for words. I knew what I wanted to say but couldn’t communicate it. Eventually, I abandoned my original idea and sought inspiration elsewhere.
Art
My inability to articulate myself despite having many ideas made me think of a powerful photograph titled “Self-Portrait Talking To Vince” by Francesca Woodman.
In the photo, a young woman has a spindly, serpentine, fibrous object inserted into her mouth that protrudes several inches past her face. Given its title, it’s almost like a forced speech bubble echoing the crack in the wall behind her. It’s a deeply unsettling and captivating photo, as one isn’t sure what the uncomfortable object is or why it is in her mouth. The shallow space she inhabits and her choice of black & white eliminate any potential noise or distractions. Instead, our attention is drawn to her face, the deep shadows, the framing of the composition, the mysterious object in her mouth, the crack in the wall, and the simplicity of the space she occupies. If those shadows had a voice, what secrets would they reveal?
I felt vaguely similar as I sat at my computer this week. I wanted to speak. I wanted to write but found myself lost for words. Where do I begin? Do I write about the song I had intended to write about? As I procrastinated, I opened a book on Francesca Woodman and instead searched for inspiration and answers within her photography.
As I flipped through its pages, stopping to look at her ghostly images, some defying gravity as they hang like crucifixions from doorways, others blurred, attempting to hide or dissolve before our eyes, I thought about Francesca and my love for her eerie photos. I am deeply moved by painting, more than any other medium, but I always find myself drawn back to Woodman's photography. It appears more closely linked to painting than to traditional photography. Her photographs possess a raw intimacy, and I feel a strong emotional connection and understanding with them. I always leave with a profound sense of feeling her work rather than simply observing it.
Despite knowing precious little about them, Francesca's photographs continue to captivate us with their allure, leaving us intrigued and mystified. Whilst she was incredibly prolific, she was not a famous artist when she tragically took her life at just 22 years old. We know that she faced numerous rejections in trying to exhibit her art, which, coupled with a painful breakup, may have led to her death.
Francesca captures a dark, ethereal beauty in her evocative photos. Throughout her art, there is a sense of fragility in a young woman searching for identity. She often appears lost, almost childlike in many of them. While they are never sexual, Francesca often appears nude in the photos. She juxtaposes her form in an abandoned space or chooses to blur and hide it, which presents it with an innocence of wanting to blend in with her surroundings. The nudity gives her work its vulnerability, but it is also an ode to her love of classical art, in particular, French Neoclassical painter Ingres and Surrealists such as Rene Magritte, Man Ray, Méret Oppenheim, and Bill Brandt. She frequently uses long exposure techniques with her photography, which creates movement and gives them a sense of mystery. Some almost come across as creepy 19th-century spirit photographs. In other photos, her figure is depicted as an organic shape that she alters, conceals, softens, and obscures, frequently juxtaposing it with elements of nature or the rigid angles seen in classical architecture.
Decades later, we wonder whether Francesca was trying to hide or reclaim the objectified female nude from the male gaze that dominates art history. Due to her brief life, we will never truly understand her artistic process or the potential reasons behind it. Because we don’t have many facts to build from, we mythologize her work and bring our own interpretations to it. Still, her photographs have a deep emotional resonance, which is one of the most poetic and poignant feelings art can elicit. In addition to her narrative style, most of Francesca's photographs were printed small. This deliberate choice adds another layer of storytelling, as it encourages one viewer at a time to fully immerse themselves in the image, much like reading a book.
I am intrigued, comforted, haunted, and inspired by Francesca’s photography. Even though I may not know the details behind her work, I still feel a deep sense of humanity and am profoundly impacted when I see them. This honesty is what I search for in all art, film, and music. I have become less patient with art lacking depth and made simply to tease the senses or chase the dollar. Perhaps the older I become and the recognition of having more years behind me than in front of me, the more I feel a stronger connection to humanity and seek out art that delves deeper into the human experience, expressing its vulnerability and baring its soul.
Whenever I struggle with creative block or a loss for words, it’s artists such as Francesca Woodman, Max Beckmann, Jenny Saville, Eels, Fela Kuti, Betty Davis, Mark Lanegan, Hugh Masekela, and films like All of Us Strangers that inspire and motivate me to persevere and to continue to create.
Trust the process.
Eventually, I know the words will return.
Thank you for introducing me to Francesca Woodman. This is the kind of artist it's hard to see in our current age: enigmatic, strange and vulnerable to the viewer in an honest way: the honesty of being true and real. Art has become so self-aware, so much of a self promotion as artist vs just being one.
Nice post, Michael. It’s always interesting to see where inspiration comes from. You clearly have many places to find it. Thanks for sharing your thoughts about a fascinating artist.