"Resist:" Women's art for our time

What does one do when faced with a myriad of policies antithetical to one’s core values? Natalie Niblack asked that of Skagit Women Print collective and helped to organize a show around the theme, “Resist.” It is at the Perry and Carlson Gallery in Mount Vernon, through October 1.

Niblack and Jules Faye created the collective to give women artists in the Valley a platform, a collective art experience and, with this new show, a political voice.

Thirty artists participated on topics ranging from gun violence, freedom of the press, women’s rights, and global warming to general statements of unity and resistance.

“Everyone had a lot of passion and frustration with what was going on in the world,” says Niblack, a former art teacher at Skagit and Shoreline colleges and now a full-time artist. “A lot of these artists don’t normally do political work.”

Niblack, whose recent art has focused on coal and oil trains, is no stranger to art in politics. For others, it was a new experience.

“This was an entirely new direction for my work,” said poet and photographer Jane Alynn. “I’ve never considered myself a conceptual artist, so, initially, I resisted the idea.”

Alynn’s print features a photograph of a skull overlaid with a speech bubble that says, “it’s a hoax,” under the title Global Warming.

Christine Wardenburg-Skinner chose the image of a black gun with a blue dove and an orange tulip coming out of the barrel, a nod to the 1967 protest against the Vietnam war, the show’s signature print.

Wardenburg-Skinner’s art has tended towards landscape and still life. Delving into politics is new for her. “The whole idea of protest after the women’s march, with so many issues dividing us seemed appropriate,” she said

Poet, print artist and mother Jess Gigot found her inspiration in the shape of a pregnant woman, arms raised to the sky, using magentas of the women’s marches. The title of the piece, “We Go High,” is an excerpt from a Michelle Obama political speech. She has found “it’s became a mantra for me during the last few months. It’s helped me stay somewhat even keeled because there has been so much to be reactive against.”

Niblack and Jules decided proceeds from postcards of the prints would be donated to the ACLU, and images of all the work will be freely accessible as protest art.

Christian Carlson co-owns the gallery with his wife Trina Perry Carslon. He says they were prepared to take on the controversy of the show.

“This is an important statement,” said the former designer turned gallery owner. “It’s timely, even though it might be controversial.”

Reception for the show so far has been positive, though Carlson remembered one woman who was not aligned politically, which started a conversation. She asked, “’how do we find common ground in a country so divided?’ Both us ended with the desire for more common ground, in this increasingly large gulf. I loved that.”

Gigot, too, felt hope with open forum for dialogue created by the show. She reflected, “I think that’s what the show does. You’ll have a reaction to the image and the show as a whole, and responding to that in a collective way allows for a dialogue about what’s the best thing for our country going forward.”

Cathy Schoenberg, whose work also addressed Climate change in the show, felt it was important to lend her voice.

“We are going through a tremendous change now,” said the long time Skagit artist. “We just have to face it and do something about it.”