VANESSA JUDICPA TOVES
Location:
Tamuning, Guam
ARTIST BIO
Vanessa is a self-taught artist from Guam who fell in love with the beauty of charcoal and its fragile nature completely disarms her each time. She is also a published poet and her work has been featured in two literary journals.
ARTIST STATEMENT
Women are the inspiration for my portraiture work. Nothing conveys powerful emotions more than women. My poem, "A Heroine's Pledge," is a tribute to women and dedicated to the most inspiring woman I know, my dear friend, Najmeh.
wishing to be autonomous in decisions
by walking freely without a cover
her womanliness exposes significance
breaking conventional roles and power
labeled a sinner or a saint
when she speaks about the emancipation
of women emerging from a state
of bondage and subjugation
peacefully revolting against the set of rules
a compelling expression of identity
embodying a strong feminine womanhood
paying homage to heroines in history
among the voyages near and far
there is a path she can no longer pretend
the immeasurable choice to travel inward
and bring years of suppression to an end
