Amy Fleming

What is the expression, the only things you are guaranteed in life is aging and death? We have heard some say for women aging and death go hand in hand. We have had some women decline being featured on this platform because “I am in my forties I am not a girl anymore” (side note, we are in our late 30s and early 40s, we don’t choose artists for features based on age).

Naturally, we were drawn to this series “Our Lady Of The Selvedge Yard” by Florida based Amy Fleming, focusing on visibility of older women. Amy Fleming is an Adjunct Professor of Printmaking at Florida State University. She is the recipient of a grant from Puffin Foundation Ltd., and a Robert Rauschenberg/Barrier Island Group for the Arts award. She has been an associate artist at the Atlantic Center for the Arts residency program, Artist in Residence at 621 Gallery in Tallahassee and a Summer River Fellows Program resident artist at Columbus State University in Columbus, Georgia. Her work is included in public and private collections, including the Jean and Alexander Heard Library at Vanderbilt University, and the Southern Graphics Council International permanent collection at Kennesaw State University.

Fleming showcases older women as the Patron Hallow of the blue collar trades. Her halo is made of automotive transmissions, her golden collar of radiators and disc brakes. Our Lady may appear with welding goggles and gloves, or wearing a battle helmet made of bolts, perhaps donning her respirator and gearing up for work.

She shares: Too many people in our world feel marginalized, undervalued or unseen. Many of those people are elder citizens, especially women. It’s time to start seeing everyone.

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