Maremi Andreozzi

"Through my scholarship of women’s history and feminism, I paint portraits of historical women who have been forgotten, misunderstood or omitted from history. I create portraits of past women to reintroduce them and give them a contemporary presence. Each portrait is accompanied by a short biography.
The subjects of my paintings are depicted with featureless faces. The omission of facial details allows for an imagined and subjective interpretation. Symbolically, she is simultaneously the
every woman and anonymous woman. She is ageless and timeless. Her dark shape represents
the unrecognized figure, who slipped through the cracks of history. Moreover, the majority of my subjects did not have paintings or likenesses created during their lifetime and were not regarded as important.
Another psychological layer is communicated through my emphasis on clothing and accessories. Clothing history reveals body awareness and self expression though time. It can suggest a subject’s age, gender, social class, religion or race. The clothing has an evolving narrative that speak to the past and present. Most significantly, clothing and accessories epitomize hopes, desires, memories, loss and a common human experience.
Many of the portraits in “A Life Well Lived” depict unsung exceptional women. We are introduced to them through a single document. - A sales receipt, court record, professional manuscript or letter. My portraits give life to this fractured figure and narrative, demonstrating that they have valuable narratives to add to our shared understanding of history. This restorative endeavor highlights that women’s history is personal and vital. "
 Maremi Andreozzi September 2023

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