Past: Screaming Purses

"As a teenager, I made a series of poor decisions resulting in twenty-four years of pain in an abusive marriage. Recently, I realized I should have been screaming all those years."

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Vintage purses that have seen various amounts of wear and tear make the perfect vehicle for Gail's Screaming Purses work. She painted screams because anger was one of the emotions “not allowed” in her first marriage. It was easier to paint her anger than to talk about it. These purses articulate the struggle to find her voice.

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"The purse is the perfect female symbol, a place to 'carry all our baggage,' or our talismans."

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The medium for all the 50 plus Screaming Purses is acrylic. Each purse was chosen for a unique story. Some are leather, some straw, vinyl, patent leather, cloth, linen, silk… each had it's own challenge for finding the “scream” inside.