“Be My Mirror” by Lily Colman

The Knots on the Underside of the Carpet
A woman enters marriage, conscious of the histories of marriage in her personal life, as well as the history of the institution of marriage itself. She carries the weight of these histories, as well as her own expectations. The history and trauma of past generations is inherited and affects how future generations experience life. This is especially true of gendered trauma; over time, women have been minimized and shoved into their own separate, domestic “sphere,” and that has impacted them as well as future generations. When a woman realizes her marriage is not what it should be, that she has been turned into a flat and unfulfilled version of herself and ultimately files for divorce, the weight of all those expectations and her disappointment in her perceived failure practically crushes her.
Using photography, installation, video, embroidery, and the creation of photographic objects (through embroidery and alternative process techniques), this work examines my own expectations upon entering marriage and my beliefs now. The ideals and beliefs I once held dear about marriage and family disintegrated very shortly upon entering the marriage state. I have struggled with the weight of having broken a lineage of lifelong, successful marriages, and trying to put the pieces back together of an identity I don’t recognize. Memory is influenced by photography and family stories. Passed down stories and images can often take the place of actual memories in our lives, influence our visions of ourselves, and how we present ourselves to the world: as happy people with fond memories and pasts to look back on. How do we examine those memories and histories after experiencing a related trauma? The Knots on the Underside of the Carpet looks to investigate my own life by revealing the knotted underbelly that we don’t usually see, and exposing the front as a false veneer, a false image that we as a society have bought into, but of which we ultimately fall flat.

size 16″ x 20″
medium Digital C-print
Price $200.00

Bio/CV

LILY MADELEINE COLMAN
Philadelphia, PA
[email protected]
lilycolman.com

Lily Madeleine Colman is a photographer living and working in Philadelphia, PA, with 5+ years professional experience. She is proficient in film processing, black-and-white and color darkroom printing, Photoshop and Creative Suite,scanning, digital printing, and various database management systems. She was born and raised in Philadelphia.

EDUCATION
Master of Fine Arts in Photography, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI. Certificate in Collegiate Teaching in Art and Design, May 2020

Bachelor of Arts, Hampshire College, Amherst, MA. Concentration: Fine Art Portrait Photography and Curatorial Studies, May 2013

SOLO EXHIBITIONS
Lily Colman Division III (Senior Thesis) Show – “Do I Look Sick to You?”, March 2013 Hampshire College Library Gallery, Amherst, MA

GROUP EXHIBITIONS
Fact vs. Fiction, December 3, 2020 – January 9, 2021
Gallery 263, Cambridge, MA

National Photography Exhibit, October 23 – November 15, 2020
Third Prize Winner
Wickford Art Association, Wickford, RI

RISD MFA Graduate Thesis Show (virtual: ttps://publications.risdmuseum.org/risd-grad-show-2020-photography,
physical show postponed due to COVID-19, rescheduled Fall 2020: October 17 – November 7, 2020)
RISD Museum, Providence, RI

Texas Photographic Society 29: The International Competition, October 3, 2020 – January 9, 2021 (Sawyer Yards, Houston, TX), January 21 – March 20, 2021 (The Center for Contemporary Arts, Abilene, TX)

MUSE, launched August 22, 2020
Digital Exhibition on ART FLUENT’s website (https://www.art-fluent.com/muse)

RISD MFA Photography Show, August 20 – September 4, 2020
ClampArt Gallery, New York, NY

Femme Fatale, launched July 2020
Virtual Exhibition on Darkside Collective’s website, curated by Nik Noel
(https://www.thedarksidecollective.com/femme-fatale)

Black: color | context | meaning, December 5, 2019 – January 19, 2020
Gelman Gallery of the RISD Museum, Providence, RI

Graduate Photography Biennial, October 25 – November 10, 2019
Sol Koffler Gallery, RISD, Providence, RI

Survived Arrival, September 2018
Red Eye Gallery, RISD, Providence, RI

People Who Work Here, June 30 – August5, 2016
David Zwirner Gallery, New York, NY

Quantum Leap: Residents Group Show, November 2015
Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

Home//Away, October 2015
Bushwick Community Darkroom, Brooklyn, NY

Division III Photography Concentrators Show, May 2013
Jerome Liebling Center Gallery, Amherst, MA

Five College Photography Show, February 2013
Smith College Museum of Art, Northampton, MA

Text and Image Class Show, April 2012
Jerome Liebling Center Gallery, Amherst MA

Division II Photography Concentrators Show, January 2012
Jerome Liebling Center Gallery, Amherst, MA

Robert Seydel Memorial Show, February 2011
Hampshire College Library Gallery, Amherst, MA

Platinum and Palladium Printing Class Show, January 2011
Jerome Liebling Center Gallery, Amherst, MA

University of the Arts Summer Program Show, July 2008
Hamilton & Aronson Galleries: Hamilton Hall, Philadelphia, PA

PORTFOLIO REVIEWS
Chico Portfolio Review (Originally Scheduled April 7-12 2020; rescheduled to October 2021 due to COVID-19), Chico Hot Springs Resort, Montana

LECTURES
How We See: Photobooks by Women, March 2019
Museum of Fine Arts Boston, hosted by 10×10 Photobooks

CHOP (Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia) IBD Walk for Hope, April 2015

RESIDENCIES
Brooklyn Art Space Open Studio Residency, July – December 2015
Trestle Gallery, Brooklyn, NY

The Exhibition Lab Critique Classes, May 2015
with Michael Foley, Owner of Foley Gallery, New York, NY

GRANTS AND AWARDS
Third Prize, National Photography Exhibit, October 23 – November 15, 2020
Wickford Art Association, Wickford, RI

Stephen Blos Grant for Division III Studies, November 2012
Hampshire College, Amherst, MA

PUBLICATIONS
Femme Fatale, Darkside Collective, digital catalog https://www.thedarksidecollective.com/femme-fatale), 2020

“Do I Look Sick to You?”, Blurb.com (self-published), 2013

The Reader, Hampshire College, Vol. 19, “Jess and Erin”, 2013

The Reader, Hampshire College, Vol. 17, “Schuyler: Public and Private”, 2011