For Alexandra Dillon, people’s faces tell stories, even if they peek out from an old and rudimentary tool. In her studio, axes and blades become symbols of repressed anger and hidden agendas, padlocks with eyes come to reflect on the key to our own psyche, and saw blades edge the features of relevant women from history. All juxtapositions are possible for this American artist, whose metaphors elicit new readings of canonical femininity over the centuries.
In the past, certain objects have been linked to the male sex, as have traits such as anger, intellect, or impulsiveness. Dillon paradoxically answers to this exclusion, including with each brushstroke the image of women to which she ascribes, “empowered, intelligent and compassionate” people. Through subtle humor, the surrealist painter seeks to create moments where…
