[Pencil portrait of a woman and her alternative mirror image]

[Pencil portrait of a woman and her alternative mirror image]

Portrait drawing--United States--20th century. [LCSH]
Women in art [LCSH]
Surrealism [LCSH]

Pencil portrait of a woman with long, straight hair and her alternate, Medusa-inspired mirror image reflected along the horizontal axis. The woman's eyes are looking straight at the viewer, with her head turned somewhat to her right in a 3/4 angle pose. She has thin eyebrows, full lips, a straight, long nose, strong jawline, and somewhat pointed chin. The portrait only covers the woman's head and the very top of her neck. Shading is employed to give definition and contour to the woman's face. She has a slight dimple on her left cheek (on the right cheek, as seen by the viewer). Her hair is parted down the center and on each side of the part, the hair is a single mass with no delineation. The woman's Medusa-like reflected image shows her in the same pose, mirrored across both the vertical and horizontal planes. The Medusa-figure looks much the same as her "twin," but her pupils are vertically slanted and reptilian-looking. She also has a rodent's paw and tail protruding from her lips--probably a mouse. On the left side of her head, one section of her hair morphs into the body and head of a snake. The snake is ready to strike, mouth open, fangs barred. The snake's underbelly is striped width-wise while its back is striped lengthwise in a pattern corresponding to the way the Medusa's hair is depicted, in wide sections. The paper used here is off-white, perhaps somewhat more so than originally. The paper is thin and quite transparent and there is a crease running slantwise from one side to the other in the lower half; it runs across the Medusa-like woman's forehead and the left side of the crown of her head. There are some large tears in the bottom-left corner of the paper and other, smaller tears in several places near the edges as well. There are some small, gold-colored spots of discoloration and there is some tape-residue along the bottom edge, along the center and also in each corner.

Gillett, Janice

1966-1973?

All rights held by Acacia Williams

Medium: pencil on paper

Extent: 35.5 x 43.3 cm

Physical object

JG_0024