ARTSTALKING

FRANCESCA WOODMAN

Francesca Woodman’s tragic and fascinatingly short existence weaves into her work with haunting presence.  Beginning her photographic career at the age of 14, Woodman became fascinated with exploring themes such as sexuality and identity, often using her own naked image as the medium of this exploration.  

In 1981, at the age of just 22, Woodman committed  suicide, throwing herself from the window of a New York loft.  The event has since always been read as inextricably linked to the dark, gothicly surrealist nature of her photographs.  Her nude self-portraits project an intimate fragility, and appear deeply personal and psychological.  For anyone lucky enough to be in New York at the moment, there is an exhibition of her work currently at the Guggenheim.