Yerman writes articles, interviews, essays, and reviews about women’s issues, culture and the arts, social justice, health, and new media. Her online pieces are link-rich, giving the reader both depth and follow-up resources.
Her on-site coverage has included conferences ranging from “Race and Gender” to “New Media Technology.” Her presence at award events has yielded an inside view of the people attending and the presentations.
Exhibition catalogue essays penned by Yerman have been recognized for their insights into both the work and the psychological underpinnings of the artist profiled.
Contact her to write for your publication at info@mgyerman.com
Lezley Saar
An examination of the cultural and social self is a primary theme in the work of Lezley Saar. Fez, Morocco, from her prostitute series of 2004, uses old photographs of various geographical locations and times. It portrays a woman traditionally perceived as part of an “outcast community.” Saar explores prostitution without directly referencing morality, history, or political factors. She endows her subject with respect and an intelligent, honest sexuality. Fez, Morocco echoes Saar’s larger body of work which deals with questions of identity and themes that reflect an exploration of mixed-race heritage. The subject’s blond hair, blue-green eyes, and light brown skin embody Saar’s philosophy that “history is not so linear.” Her craft and technique employ a variety of materials that reiterate these concerns. Painting on silk, Saar represents a woman indigenous to Morocco, using European brocades, quilts, and needlepoint remnants. Always looking for the mixed metaphor, she places two cultures within one context. Saar offers the viewer an opportunity to engage in questioning contradictory elements, while responding to her visually visceral images.
This essay appeared in The Feminist Figure catalogue published in 2007
