Two Mantles, 2009 by Jacqueline Bates

Contender Jacqueline Bates makes work about identity. More specifically, she makes work that examines her own vulnerability as an Italian American woman. With her series of diptychs, La Vita Americana, Bates provokes a conversation about past and present conceptions of Italian feminine identity.

From her statement about her work she writes:

I am interested in the position of a woman in a family, what her roles are, how they transform from generation to generation, and how isolating they can be. I examine rites of passage and family traditions which, although far removed from their socio-spiritual origins, continue to be a central part of Italian-American cultural identity. To contrast the color suburban photographs, I present three types of black-and-white imagery: film stills from Michelangelo Antonioni's classic 1960 film L'avventura; snapshots of my parents at the time of their marriage; and my own fictional film stills.

View more of Jacqueline's work on her site.