AUDIO
MAGICAL WOMEN
Audio 12/14
12.
Paloma Proudfoot
0:00
AUDIO
Paloma Proudfoot
Paloma Proudfoot works with glazed ceramics, which she develops from templates inspired by clothing patterns from the fashion industry. She often combines the ceramic elements with metal or fabric, creating reliefs that blur the boundaries between picture and object.
In the reliefs on display in the exhibition Magical Women, Proudfoot explores the history of pathologizing women—particularly the medical treatment for “hysteria” in the nineteenth century. Her works reference historical scenes, while fundamentally altering them.
In Unfinished Painting (II), a female hand uses a metal rod to touch a young woman’s cheek. The scene is reminiscent of hypnosis demonstrations at the Salpêtrière in Paris, a famous hospital where doctors hypnotized patients in front of an audience. Here, however, the hand belongs to an ally, not to a male physician. The gesture looks calm, almost solicitous.
Plume (II) shows feathers growing out of fingers, connected to a depiction of the nervous system in the hand. Historically, doctors used such feathers to make trembling visible—and to demonstrate the effects of hypnosis. Proudfoot transforms this medical tool into a surreal, poetic image that speaks of control and helplessness.
In Skin Poem, we see two women peeling away a third woman’s skin—not violently, but gently, like a cloak. The underlying tissue of her body draws the eye. The scene feels like a quiet ritual, sustained by trust and closeness.
Proudfoot replaces the medical stage with intimate counter-images. Her works show care rather than diagnosis. Self-empowerment rather than performance. They remind us that women were predominantly viewed as objects in the past, and often still are today—and they demonstrate how important it is to displace this image and find new ones.
In the reliefs on display in the exhibition Magical Women, Proudfoot explores the history of pathologizing women—particularly the medical treatment for “hysteria” in the nineteenth century. Her works reference historical scenes, while fundamentally altering them.
In Unfinished Painting (II), a female hand uses a metal rod to touch a young woman’s cheek. The scene is reminiscent of hypnosis demonstrations at the Salpêtrière in Paris, a famous hospital where doctors hypnotized patients in front of an audience. Here, however, the hand belongs to an ally, not to a male physician. The gesture looks calm, almost solicitous.
Plume (II) shows feathers growing out of fingers, connected to a depiction of the nervous system in the hand. Historically, doctors used such feathers to make trembling visible—and to demonstrate the effects of hypnosis. Proudfoot transforms this medical tool into a surreal, poetic image that speaks of control and helplessness.
In Skin Poem, we see two women peeling away a third woman’s skin—not violently, but gently, like a cloak. The underlying tissue of her body draws the eye. The scene feels like a quiet ritual, sustained by trust and closeness.
Proudfoot replaces the medical stage with intimate counter-images. Her works show care rather than diagnosis. Self-empowerment rather than performance. They remind us that women were predominantly viewed as objects in the past, and often still are today—and they demonstrate how important it is to displace this image and find new ones.