From the self-portrait series American Values: Suburbia, 2013, Digital Photograph, 28 x 20 inches
ENID CROW
Artist Statement
I am a feminist artist. Through my staged, self-portrait photographs, I use humor to comment on gender roles, labor and employment, sexuality, disaster, and American values. I think that humor is a powerful tactic because it makes thinking about difficult, unpalatable issues more attractive to audiences, like good stand-up comedy. I came to visual art with a theater background, so my photographs are character driven. I usually start a photograph by buying an interesting secondhand clothing piece or raiding my father's closet, matching the clothing with a wig, and choosing a location. When I'm trying on the costume or when I arrive at the location, I make up the character. I often involve my family and friends as characters in my pictures. I shoot with a tripod and a digital camera using a self-timer most of the time. After I've taken the photograph, in some series, I add text that I've imagined or quoted from the Internet.
My work is influenced by feminist thinkers like bell hooks, my law school professors Carol Gilligan and David A.J. Richards, Lucy Lippard, and Barbara Ehrenreich. My artistic influences include Cindy Sherman, Nikki S. Lee, Lori Nix, Laurel Nakadate, and the community of artists at A.I.R. Gallery.