On Identity and Intimacy With Jeanette Spicer
From the series, To the Ends of The Earth. © Jeanette Spicer
Jeanette Spicer’s latest book, To the Ends of The Earth, published by GOST Books, is an honest and raw depiction of the lesbian experience through the lens of daughterhood. The photographs show the dynamic between Spicer, her partner, and her straight mother.
Spicer’s initial intention for this project was to explore how she and her mother could be perceived as something other than—perhaps implying they were strangers, lovers, or friends—challenging standard notions of the parental boundaries formed in Western cultures as people age. To do this, Spicer used light, shadow, and fragmentation to her advantage, allowing the viewer to zoom in on certain body parts or the lack thereof, emphasizing insinuations of curiosity, desire, and sex. “I use the body as a portal,” said Spicer. “These tactics help me create worlds that envelope our performances together, making them private, unique, and hopefully interesting to look at.”
From the series, To the Ends of The Earth. © Jeanette Spicer
The work later transformed once Spicer came out and brought her partner into the fold. She felt this connection between mother, daughter, and partner was underrepresented in photography, specifically within the LGBTQ+ community. Presenting this additional relationship was critical to paint an authentic picture of Spicer’s experience as a lesbian and as a daughter. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think, as a young person who was desperately hiding her sexuality, that I could ever make work like this,” she said. “While my mom, partner, and I are all real people in relationships with one another, this work is about the universal conversations of adult children relating to their parents, motherhood, time, aging, the female form, and objectification.”
The nude female body is the pillar of this project. Viewers are introduced to a closeness and intimacy between mother and daughter that can elicit feelings of discomfort and strangeness. For example, the trio is shown participating in traditionally feminine activities such as braiding hair, painting toenails, and bathing. Other parts of the book imply more sexually-driven scenes, where forms melt into each other, leaving the viewer unable to decipher where one body begins and another ends. This only strengthens the capacity for larger discussions of Spicer’s concerns, such as the taboo on motherhood and the standards of familial relationships.
From the series, To the Ends of The Earth. © Jeanette Spicer
“There are definitely moments that feel uncomfortable for me, but I enjoy those moments,” Spicer said. “I think my mom sees the project as a way to spend time together and help out her daughter. She is coming from a primal and instinctual place, so I don’t think she feels uncomfortable about touching or interacting with my partner or me.”
This work can be viewed through a conventional, heteronormative perspective, misrepresenting a core theme and overlooking Spicer as a lesbian woman. Instead of focusing on sexuality alone, Spicer intends to offer a multifaceted view of living as a lesbian woman, inviting nuanced dialogues in relation to other aspects of life, such as motherhood, labor, kinship, friendship, and so on.
From the series, To the Ends of The Earth. © Jeanette Spicer
To the Ends of The Earth is a striking portrayal of identity, intimacy, and maternity. It underlines a woman’s existence without the presence of men and dissects the intricate nature of the female bond. Spicer confronts traditional standards head-on, creating her own definition of what relationships can look like. Visually compelling and beautiful by nature, the bodies present in these photographs are ubiquitous reflections of love.
From the series, To the Ends of The Earth. © Jeanette Spicer
Jeanette Spicer is currently exhibiting this body of work at Metropolitan Community Church located at 446 W 36th Street, New York. The show runs through November 22, Fridays 4–8 pm and Sundays 10 am–2 pm, as well as by appointment. There will be an artist talk between Spicer and her mother, Marcia Bourn Buckley, on Saturday, November 16, from 3 pm to 5 pm.
