Back to Gallery Next Artist - Emma Wade

Cara-Celeste VanNortwick

CARA-CELESTE VANNORTWICK
Esther ($1,800)
Deborah ($1,800)
Ruth ($1,600)
Sarah ($1,800)
Rachel ($1,800)
Miriam ($1,800)
Lydia ($1,600)
Hannah ($1,600)
Eve ($1,600)
18" x 24" each
Oil on canvas

Email museum@westmont.edu for purchasing inquiries

Purity culture was a movement that launched in the 1990s in Evangelical Christian circles that promoted celibacy and encouraged abstinence from any sexual activity among unmarried young people. Although the goal of the movement was to protect teenagers, it instead perpetuated a culture of shame and sexual ignorance that has inflicted lasting harm on the mental, physical, and social health of generations of young women.

The scars on my psyche, the anger in the pit of my stomach, and the countless stories from peers and strangers are the impetus for my body of work. Shame wants us to fear and to hide, but I created my paintings to be seen. The stories in my series must be heard, so that shame is pushed out of the lesson plan.

My series of paintings depicts nude, female, Westmont students contorted in postures of shame. The figures are posed at a school desk, a church pew, and a dining room table, symbolizing three places where purity culture is most often taught. The interaction of the paintings and the pew create an environment for the exposure of and mourning for purity culture’s damaging shame teachings. I hope for my series to be a space where change can take root and a new sexual ethic can arise within Christian communities. Human sexuality is a gift from God. A new generation of young, female Christian believers needs to come of age with a positive understanding of human sexuality, and not a culture of shame.

-Cara-Celeste VanNortwick