Welcome to no. 62 in our series Poignant Pics, where our editor, Diana Nicholette Jeon, writes about two images by Grace Weston.

“I’ve found it (photography) has little to do with the things you see and everything to do with the way you see them.”
— Elliott Erwitt

Several months ago, I saw these two images by Grace Weston while looking at either her IG or her website. I must have been in a mood where lying around naked on a couch or a bed appealed to me because both have that aspect, despite being about entirely different things. 

Weston doesn't simply set up a cute set and photograph it; she designs her sets to talk about familiar myths, stories, or even the absurdity of our everyday lives. I asked Weston to elaborate on the story behind each image. 

She told me, "I am interested in examining familiar stories from mythology and art history and featuring the muse from a feminist point of view. Venus and The Pill  is a restaging of Botticelli's Birth of Venus in a contemporary setting." In Weston's retelling, Venus has re-emerged as a young mother who is simultaneously watching three children, primping her hair, and "vowing not to get pregnant again." Any working mom, nay, ANY mom who goes without household helpers, can relate to this.

On the other hand, Home Alone was made in the first year of the pandemic, while we lived in fear, locked down safely in our homes, isolated from other people, the virus, and life as we knew it. Weston says she sometimes entertained herself with overindulgence. Because "if the world is ending, you might as well eat dessert." Righto! And why not?

Weston makes “fun” images. Candy colored, with engaging characters, they make me laugh. But they go beyond that. They also make me think.

Bravo, Grace! I look forward to seeing more series from you in the near future.

Artist Bio

Grace Weston is best known for her narrative photography of imaginative staged miniature scenes. Her award-winning artwork has been shown in numerous exhibitions throughout the United States and internationally, most recently at the Center for Photography in Yekaterinburg, Russia. Public collections include the Portland Art Museum, Amon Carter Museum of American Art (Fort Worth, TX), and the University of the Arts (Philadelphia, PA), among others. She was awarded First Place in the Portfolio Category in the 2021 Tokyo International Photo Awards. In 2020, Peanut Press published her monograph, “The Neighbors Will Talk”.  More of her work can be seen here.

Author Bio

Diana Nicholette Jeon is an award-winning artist based in Honolulu, HI, who works primarily with lens-based media. Her work has been seen both internationally and nationally in solo and group exhibitions. Jeon holds an MFA from UMBC.