I chose Francesca Woodman's "Space2" primarily because the image reminds me of the short story "The Yellow Wallpaper," by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. The story of a woman who goes crazy after being restricted to bed rest as a cure for her hysteria, she begins to see a woman hiding within the stripes of her yellow wallpaper. Woodman's image speaks to the insanity a woman experiences when she is confined by her gender. By covering her face and a portion of her legs, Woodman minimizes her body to a mere shape, accentuated by the floral pattern of her wallpaper covering. As such, the image becomes a study more of form than of sexuality, simultaneously commenting on and minimizing her femininity. Shot in black and white, and in an aged and rundown house, the image strikes a timeless chord.
