Reading The Key Essay 11 of 17

The Enlightenment of Gladys and Myrtle II

MIXED MEDIA ON CANVAS, 30 X 30
ACRYLIC, INK, GRAPHITE, GESSO, OLD PHOTOGRAPH, SKELETON KEY, 1929 HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES, BIBLE, 1894 OUR BODIES AND HOW WE LIVE PHYSIOLOGY TEXTBOOK

Gladys and Myrtle return. We see them this time in coats and hats, standing on the porch steps, prepared to step out into the world. They appear in duality, first photographed on the porch, and then sketched much larger by the artist, embracing each other in support, either enduring or enlightened, or both. The viewer decides.

Exploring further the changing role of women during their era, “The Enlightenment of Gladys and Myrtle II” presents information about Women’s Suffrage in America. Among the book pages scattered throughout the cruciform composition are several pages from a 1929 History of the United States, offering an image of Susan B. Anthony and paragraphs under the title “The New Political Democracy.” One paragraph in particular talks about the vibrant activities of women during a lull in the suffrage movement itself. “College after college – Vassar, Bryn Mawr, Smith, Wellesley, to mention a few – was founded to give (women) the advantages of higher education…. By the rapid growth of public high schools, in which girls enjoyed the same rights as boys, education was extended still more widely.”

The now-historical history textbook continues to present the role of education, knowledge, and enlightenment in the women’s movement with references to “lectures and poems by men like Emerson, Longfellow, and Whittier,” the organization of a national suffrage convention, and the publishing of a newspaper called The Revolution edited by Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony. The women’s movement is an excellent example of the power of the written word and knowledge itself to influence the collective consciousness.

“The Enlightenment of Gladys and Myrtle II” includes an actual skeleton key, in addition to two painted keys in the composition, harkening back to the previous “Knowledge Bath” in its suggestion that knowledge should come in heaps, not polite servings. Other texts include quotes from Thomas Jefferson, such as: “Enlighten the people generally, and tyranny and oppressions of body and mind will vanish like evil spirits at the dawn of a day.” And from the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Romans: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

In the photograph of Gladys and Myrtle, they are near expressionless. Their stance is firm, and they are dressed to go out, but they seem neither joyous nor oppressed. Yet, the drawing of the two, which is a simple line drawing within the abstract painting style, seems to convey more emotion. There is a sense of intimacy in their relationship, a sense that Myrtle is helping Gladys through. Through what? We don’t know. The viewer decides.

With the juxtaposition of a personal moment between Gladys and Myrtle against all the political, cultural and social events of their time, the viewer is prompted to consider both sides through the lens of the other. How does the individual effect collective change? Conversely, how does a collective truth impact the person?

Who am I? Who are you? Who are we?

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©Ginger Meek Allen