Guilty Pleasures
date: label: Date made
content: 1981
name: label: graphic artist
content: Szesko, Judith Jaidinger
label: graphic artist
content: Szesko, Judith Jaidinger
notes: label: Description
content: "Guilty Pleasures" is a wood engraving by Judith Jaidinger, which depicts, on the right side of the print, a woman in a voluminous dress with a high neck. A string of butterflies links her to another female figure on the left whose body is a composite of human muscle and bone and natural elements, such as flower petals, buds and roots. Directly to the right of this Mother Earth-like figure is a nude woman with a black band around her neck. The print is split in half vertically by a partial wall or door, nearly separating reality from fantasy, except for the butterflies connecting the two worlds. Jaidinger's engravings often reflect, in her words, "the mysteries of nature and the complexities of the human condition."
label: Description
content: Jaidinger does not necessarily identify as a feminist, but acknowledges that the female figure is dominant in her work. She attributes this to her experience of being a single parent to her daughter and having a career in commercial wood engraving, a trade dominated by men. She explains that her "feminine subject matter is not due to male oppression, but to a deep appreciation of women, of both their strengths and weaknesses."
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: Illinois, Chicago
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Graphic Arts
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content: Communications
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content: Art
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2003.0082.05
label: catalog number
content: 2003.0082.05
label: accession number
content: 2003.0082
objectType: label: Object Name
content: Print
label: Object Type
content: Wood Engraving
physicalDescription: label: Measurements
content: overall: 35.4 cm x 27.9 cm; 13 15/16 in x 11 in