The World Will Be Saved by the Western Woman

In the Vancouver Peace Summit of 2009, the Dali Lama said something about women that resonated around the world ... and resonated with me, personally.  He said “the world will be saved by the western woman”. His wise words stuck with me not only because I know that women in the West have the rights and privileges many women around the world don’t have, and not only because we are so rich in sensitivity and intuition.  It stuck with me as a universal "truth", one of those statements I just know is right when I hear it.

Kate Kane is Batwoman in "Day's End", acrylic & sharpie on canvas panel, 20" x 14" © March 18, 2013.When I consider the western woman, I think of heroes, and my heroes have capes, masks, and super powers.  I've felt this way since childhood. Indian/Hindu children, rich in spirituality, have Gods and Goddesses revered as heroes, and they have super powers and great stories. I’ve always been envious of their rich cultural history, and I've spent time coaxing the power of those Goddesses and Gods from my pen. Who are our Gods and Goddesses? I believe the pantheon of American heroes includes the men and women of comic books.  They may not be real, but they are the heroes American children grow dreaming of, making them an integral part of American mythology. I started my artistic endeavors drawing comic book women, so it makes sense that I would eventually return to them.  I began drawing them with fervor about a year ago after my surgery, and I haven't stopped since.

I’ve got a show at the Pacifica Community Center scheduled for July of this Summer, and I’m calling it “The World Will Be Saved by the Western Woman.”  It will include some of my older artistic pieces of women (including Francine), and it will include the pieces I’m doing of female superheroes in acrylics.  I’ll introduce “Batwoman” in AGP’s upcoming show “Anything Goes” (I'm hoping they let me submit more than one piece).

The exhibition, as it grows and develops over the next few months, will be a visual representation of the heroic western woman seen through my lens, and I hope you'll find it fascinating.

Kate Kane aka Batwoman in "One of Those Days", acrylic & pen on Canson Art Board, 19" x 28", © March 7, 2013. Kate Kane is one of the first openly gay comic book characters and considered the highest profile gay character to appear in stories produced by DC Comics.