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<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nInstallation view<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Female identity is still a difficult issue. Donovan addresses the ideas, expectations and experiences of a young woman \u2013 maybe in her early twenties \u2013 growing up. Her personality is still being shaped, her identity just beginning to emerge. She is surrounded and heavily influenced by the social culture of her time, an idealized social fabric that still persists (even in the 21st century) with its demanding expectations of women in Western culture. There is an echo from the past and a pattern that seems to be cyclical. She is being conditioned to face the terms of society that she must meet, regardless of her personal interest or values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nTeri Donovan, Tools of Engagement, oil and collage on Mylar, 24 x 18 in<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most of Donovan\u2019s work deal with the past: legacies and memories; like the titles of her series Legacies<\/em> and An Archeology of Time<\/em> suggest. Childhood memories with their innocence are returning motifs in her paintings. Adult figures from the past appear, merge and then disappear as their time is over but their existence is still strong in the memories of the artist as is shown in her series, Always, Once and Again<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Teri Donovan, Legacies, oil and collage on Mylar, 24 x 18 in<\/p>\n\n\n\n Everything is personal for Donovan. All of her figures have a component of self-portrayal, and there is no question that the conscious mind digs deeply into the unconscious where suppressed memories wait to resurface. It is hard to say whether the young woman \u2013 the same face reappears in all these paintings \u2013 is happy or sad. Her eyes are large and they seemingly reach out to lock with ours. Her look and the items that cover the lower part of her face invite the viewer to create narratives. Who is she? What is her story? Do they show what she really wants to be or what is expected of her? Is it her true identity or one forced on her? Is it her true self or a juxtaposition of imagery that portrays the influences, actions and experiences she\u2019s gone through while constructing her personality? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Teri Donovan, Training, oil and collage on Mylar, 24 x 18 in<\/p>\n\n\n\n That brings time into the picture; creating a timeline that is overlapped by the past and mixed with the present. What is our time? How can our real life-time be defined? For Donovan, past is always an important part of it. As she refers to Simon Critchley\u2019s assertion that, \u201cWe might think we\u2019re done with the past, but the past isn\u2019t done with us.\u201d What if everything that we consider ourselves to be is just a cyclic repercussion of our past experiences, societal construction and culture? Can we ever be done with the past? Donovan\u2019s answer is a definitive NO. She believes that \u201cwhat is absorbed and internalized in childhood is spoken and performed, consciously and unconsciously, in adulthood.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Teri Donovan, Shoe Dreams, oil and collage on Mylar, 24 x 18 in<\/p>\n\n\n\n This concept is strongly portrayed in the paintings with a touch of nostalgia and a whimsical vision. Sometimes the artist looks through pink lenses while other times she uses a more dramatic color code. The setting is rather melancholic, with the repetition of objects in a scattered representation. The images and objects tied to the young woman\u2019s identity, speak of a rather oppressed state, making this portrayal much more serious that it looks at first sight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Teri Donovan, Decisions, oil and collage on Mylar, 24 x 18 in<\/p>\n\n\n\n The young woman’s mouth is covered with a mask, made of a beautiful fabric, but still a mask that doesn\u2019t let her speak her mind. It is not coincidental that the series is titled, What Speaks You<\/em>. It is not the woman who is speaking, but the objects that surround her. Are all her dreams about shoes (Shoe Dreams<\/em>)? All the Decisions<\/em> she can make merely about what to wear? We shouldn\u2019t be surprised after all, all the Training<\/em> she got was about mermaids, make-up and baby strollers. Is it a surprise that she ends up with a Reflection<\/em> no more than a selfie? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n