My senior project is titled “Women Without Men.” I was inspired by historical photographs featuring women. The common tie among the pictures is that the subjects’ eyes seem to cry “listen to me, I have a story to share.”
Women’s narratives are sorely lacking in the annals of history, and I would like to rectify that, to give these forgotten women a voice, even if only hypothetical. I want to illustrate that a woman doesn’t need a man to have a purpose, to have feelings and opinions worthy of being heard. I find that women often feel stifled by the presence of men, hiding their true selves behind socially appropriate behavior. I want the women in my compositions to feel free and uninhibited.
Each of my illustrations was be inspired by a vintage found photograph, and is accompanied by a short story or written snapshot imagining the lives and emotions of the women depicted. 
The illustrations were drawn in either colored pencil or charcoal, or painted with acrylics, depending on what I felt the image required.

I want these women to feel real to the viewer, to take a black and white photograph and paint a technicolor picture of the lives they might have led.