Stephanie Todhunter, Spacegirl
Stephanie Todhunter, Spacegirl, Original digital collage, hand pulled silkscreen on archival heavy-weight printmaking paper
When was this piece created?
I created this particular image last winter during the pandemic.
What is the story behind this piece?
When I work I am usually thinking about female identity and GenX feminism. Spacegirl started as a digital collage incorporating two different older pieces (Lara hates swimming alone and Molly believes in the lost cosmonaut). I combined the stress of swimming in a bathing suit at that particular point in a girl’s life when her body outpaces her childhood, with the idea of needing to be insulated/protected from the outside world while simultaneously feeling like an outsider/martian. The spacesuit is both protective and isolating. And I think these feelings were quite widespread during the pandemic- the need for isolation and protection but also feeling outside of the world. Lost in place.
What inspired this piece? Is there an outside element that influenced this piece (i.e. another artist, nature, a novel, a theory, etc)?
I am fascinated by the urban myth of the lost cosmonaut, one of the earliest conspiracy space theories.In 1961, two amateur Italian radio engineers recorded what many believe to be the voice of a female cosmonaut burning up on re-entry. If real, this would have been the first woman in space. You can watch the “proof” in this video:
Is this part of a series; if so what is the series?
I have been working on the Latchkey Kids for almost ten years now and pretty much everything I do circles back to my original “girls”: fifty plaster coated vintage dolls, each re-colored and re-named. The plaster-encased girls (reminiscent of Han Solo encased in carbonite) began as vintage Dawn Dolls from the 1970s. These dolls were only made for a brief amount of time and are generally only remembered by the GenX generation. Dawn Dolls are smaller than Barbies and, although they have exaggerated waspish waists and perky breasts, are “tweenish” in age. They were small, generic, easy to carry and easy to lose.
Once the dolls have been plastered and inked, they develop distinct and often unsettling features and personalities. I photograph each girl to capture and highlight her individual quirks. I use these images (sometimes digitally manipulated) in larger mixed media works on canvas, wood and glass, and in serigraph and risograph prints. I draw on many of the motifs common to American childhood in the 1970 and 80s: divorce, isolation, stranger danger, missing children, parental neglect, and Lord of the Flies-like adventure in small town suburbia.
Explain/Tell us anything else you would like people to know about this specific work.
Instead of a signature, Spacegirl is stamped with my “woman-made icon” imprint (and initialed and numbered).
Stephanie Todhunter‘s work can be found at CAA’s Speedway Gallery. Her work is currently on view in Shop at the CAA as well as the Print + Work on Paper Program.
Website: https://www.stephanietodhunter.com/
Instagram: @stephanietodhunterart