Review: “Per(Sister)” reveals the pain and resilience of incarcerated women

Review: "Per(Sister)" portrays pain and resilience through art

The exhibition, now on display at the SU Art Museum, features works of hope and loss from artists across the country
Published: February 3, 2022
The piece
The piece "Tremica" by artist Butch Frosch was inspired by the story of Tremica Henry, one of the 30 women featured in the exhibition.

Photographs of 30 incarcerated Louisiana women hang on the wall in the Syracuse University Art Museum. They face the camera, smiling and fearless. They open the hearts of viewers and lead audiences through the hardest times of their lives.

The Per(Sister) exhibition was initially curated by the Newcomb Art Museum at Tulane University in New Orleans. Through deeply affecting art, it reveals the situation that women in the judicial system endure. The incarceration rate for women has increased 834% over the past 40 years; in Louisiana, it’s higher than the national average, according to (Per)Sister‘s official website. Women in the southern state are often charged for lower-level crimes, leading to them being torn away from their families.

As I walk through the exhibition, questions ran through my mind. What did these women experience during their time in prison? How did life change after they were arrested? And how did they get trapped in the inescapable thorns of the Louisiana judicial system? In the past, as the curators of the Per(Sister) exhibition point out, these women’s stories were ignored or misunderstood. But now, their stories are being brought to light to open minds and change thoughts.

“How I came about being incarcerated was that I was a great big sinner,” said Andrea Martin, one of the 30. The power of her confession quoted in the exhibition made me feel a crushing sorrow. “And I didn’t know how to deal with pain at such a young age. I was looking for love in all the wrong places.” This is just one tale; there are 29 more. Martin’s words are printed on a mirror under her profile, which reflected my face back to me as I read them. I can see myself, a person with my own story, standing in front of these women with respect and curiosity for their stories.

Museum goers in front of a piece by Carl Joe Williams
Visitors at the SU Art Museum look at "Whispers to God, Being Here When Women Need Me to Be Here!" by Carl Joe Williams, inspired by Dolfinette Martin's story.

The exhibition features a pop art-style piece called “Tremica, by Butch Frosch, which represents the heartbreak of a persistent mother, Tremica Henry. The light-yellow hair and bright red lips compose an astonishing work, full of energy and the blatant beauty of the woman, even in prison. The tears streaming down her face exposes Henry’s pain when she was forced to leave her child. The tragedy of these experiences not only impacts the women, but also their children.

The storyline of this exhibition is organized into four sections regarding incarceration: Causes, Impact, Physical and Behavioral Health and Challenges and Opportunities. These sections show the different dimensions of the mission of Per(Sister) and paint the whole picture of the story vividly.

In Carl Joe Williams’s multimedia installation piece “Whisper to God, Being Here When Women Need Me to Be Here!”, the portraits of Dolfinette Martin are placed in two different “worlds,” symbolized through use of composition and color. One portrait includes a video of Martin’s moving eyes set behind a still painting of her face; in the other portrait, a photograph of Martin is set upside down against a sky-blue background. She stares at everyone who stands in front of this piece. Her eyes are resolute, brave and calm.

There’s a small, boxy television in the center of the piece. As I put on a pair of headphones attached to the television, Martin’s voice floods my ears, delivering the message of the injustices incarcerated women suffer. Martin’s story evokes a wave of resistance and justice for artist Williams. “This idea was profound, and it has stuck with me as a major social problem for us to resolve,” he said in his artist statement regarding the piece.

Per(Sister) illuminates the lives of these underrepresented women, exposing their circumstances and interrogating the injustices of female mass incarceration.