Tatted Waves and Laced Strength

Tatted Waves and Laced Strength – Dara R Vance

Tatted Waves and Laced Strength is a series of artwork Ms. Vance is producing which investigates women who migrated to Florida in the late 19^th century.  Using diaries, photographs from the Florida State Archives, and field visits, Ms. Vance creates paintings that question power relationships between genders.  Dara creates a subtext of environmental concerns and an inverted domestic sphere by considering how weather, illness, and isolation impacted gender relationships.  Building on research she conducted for her Masters in Fine Art, combined with research from her MA thesis, Dara uses her artwork as the foundation for her PhD Dissertation.  Her dissertation Tidal Exchanges: Place, Gender, and Improvised Survival in South Florida, 1860-1900, investigates the intersection of environment, gender, class, and race through the lens of a shared environmental experience to understand how place impacted frontier encounters.