How much can we learn of someone through their image? My paintings deal with the debates surrounding international women by portraying the women themselves. By shifting the focus to the faces behind the issues, I hope to reinsert humanity into the thought process. My recent works attempt to understand Iraqi women in light of occupation, but also in spite of it. Representation of these women in the media provides us with a cross-section of their daily life and interactions distilled in their expressions. Nonetheless, these images remain largely our portrayals of their society. To what extent can we, as outsiders, truly understand an individual and her society from this point of view? By placing the viewer's attention on the women without the distraction of context, my hope is that we begin to question the assumptions of what we know and recognize the limits of that knowledge.

I received a BFA from Cornell University with a concentration on painting. Since then I have been focused on creating series of work that deals with the current events that have inspired me. To see more of my work, visit my website at www.rachelkerwin.com