Daughters and Sons

In the mid-1990's my friend, Deb Collier, adopted a baby girl from China. I admired Deb's passion for a child, her decision, and her courage, and I have stayed very close to Deb and her now thirteen-year-old daughter, Claire. Through them I have met other parents of adopted girls from Chinese orphanages.

In April of 2008, I moved into a studio space at the Red Brick Center for the Arts. My artist-neighbor, Shelly Marolt, has two young daughters from Chinese orphanages, Talulah and Flora. And I became even more fascinated with China during the summer Beijing Olympics. I began to read about Mao Zedong, and realized that these girls were "Mao's Daughters", historically and socially.

I immediately began this series of portraits of them that I am calling "Mao's Daughters". I have one large piece consisting of thirteen portraits and another piece with seven portraits. In each, the portraits can be shown together, as a unit, or separated. I am photographing the girls in my studio and working from the photography that I have taken. There are about 30 Chinese orphans that have been adopted by families in my Roaring Fork Valley, so I have a lot of models!

I find that the beauty, poise, intelligence, and exuberant personalities of these girls, ages two to thirteen, are not only an exciting challenge but also a revelation. I am learning the geography of China, Chinese characters and translations (with the help of a Chinese friend, Mei Ying Lee) and the customs and history of China.
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Mao's Daughters