Laura Aguilar Archives

Explore Four Artworks by Women Artists in SAM’s Collection That Embody the Spirit of Women’s History Month 2025

Sara Butler on Mar 20 2025

Happy Women’s History Month! March is a time to celebrate women’s many contributions to society, which are often overlooked and underappreciated. Let’s take a look at four artworks by talented women artists that dismantle gender stereotypes, honor family matriarchs, and celebrate the female body, among other feminist themes.

Woman Landing on Man in the Moon (1971)
Ann Leda Shapiro

Kicking off the list is Woman Landing on Man in the Moon, a bold watercolor from Ann Leda Shapiro (b. 1947), an artist based on Vashon Island in Washington State. In the 1971 painting, a female astronaut in a silver spacesuit stands tall atop the moon’s surface and shines bright against the cosmic void. Bucking NASA’s dress code, her space getup features three American flag patches with cutouts to expose her breasts…and penis. She stands tall atop the moon’s surface as six male astronauts topple off into the abyss.

Shapiro’s blunt and edgy humor exposes male privilege and highlights the barriers women face to reach the same heights. Through her art and activism, Shapiro has dedicated her career to feminist expression. In the ’80s, she was an early member of the Guerilla Girls, a group of rebellious women artists famous for wearing gorilla masks as they covered NYC with provocative posters, sharing information about sexism and racism prevalent in the art world.

Tiger Lily (1976)
Patti Warashina

Feminist themes radiate throughout the work of Seattle ceramicist Patti Warashina (b. 1940). Inspired by her grandmother’s religious shrines, Warashina created a 12-part altar series that injects the devious into the divine, unpacking the female dilemma.

Her 1976 sculpture Tiger Lily places a woman between two candles and a blooming flower, common altar elements associated with the Virgin Mary. Yet this woman is far from saintly. Surrounded by a ring of fire and clad in an animal print bodice, she embodies the rebellious Eve. She radiates power and resistance, transforming into a Tiger Goddess.

By utilizing ancient clay techniques, Warashina pays homage to generations of family matriarchs. However, the transformation of these sacred statues into statement pieces flips tradition on its head. Her piece acknowledges the demure behavior women have been expected to embody and seeks to empower them to challenge these gender norms.

Susanna and the Eldest (1981)
Honoré Sharrer

Painter Honoré Sharrer (1920–2009) marched to the beat of her own drum throughout her 75-year career. Tucked away in her rural upstate New York studio, she bucked trending art styles and sometimes spent years on a single painting. Known for her satirical work, Sharrer loved poking fun at female stereotypes and creating alternate realities. She was also drawn to the craft, themes, and metaphors of Northern Renaissance art.

Her 1981 oil painting Susanna and the Eldest is based a tale from the Old Testament about sexual violence. In the story, two men spy on a woman while she is bathing and attempt to force her into having sex, then blackmailing her when she refuses. Eventually, their lies are exposed.

In her reimagining, Sharrer gives Susanna unabridged agency. Instead of the demure victim, as she has been depicted throughout art history, Susanna splays out naked on the floor and stares directly at the viewer. An odd assortment of objects surround her to cultivate a dream-like state in the colorful room. This includes a skeleton in a top hat set upon a plinth that hovers above Susanna—a monument of death upon the leering men of her past?

Fun fact: Susanna and the Elders (Novelty Hotel) by Robert Colescott is another famous piece found in our collection. In Colescott’s acrylic piece, men ogle at a woman stepping out of a hotel bathtub, showcasing the problematic idolization of European beauty.

Stillness #15 (1999)
Laura Aguilar

As a Chicana and lesbian photographer, Laura Aguilar (1959–2018) broke barriers by making herself and her community visible in the art world. Sometimes she did this by physically inserting herself into her artwork, as in Stillness #15. This 1999 photograph features Aguilar and another woman perched on rocky terrain, slouched over their naked bodies.

Often in the history of art, nude women with idealized thin, white bodies represent mythological figures or sexual objects. Aguilar complicated these norms by depicting herself and her models in unexpected poses and obscuring their faces. In this black-and-white image, the women become part of the environment—their curves, creases, and textures echo the rocks around them.

Stillness #15 focuses on both the body and the mind. Aguilar explained that this series stemmed from her experience as a caretaker for her dying father; during this time, she began contemplating spirituality. Aguilar’s use of the female nude is not about beauty or ideals—it’s about reckoning with grief, mortality, and self-exploration.

Sadly, Aguilar passed away in 2018, but her powerful contribution to the art world lives on.

– Sara Butler, Marketing Copywriter and Nicole Block, Collections Associate

Image credits: Woman Landing on Man in the Moon, 1971, Ann Leda Shapiro, American, b. 1947, Watercolor on paper, 20 x 14 in. (50.8 x 35.6 cm), Seattle Art Museum, Gift of Matthew Offenbacher and Jennifer Nemhauser with funds from the 2013 Neddy Award in Painting, 2015.2.3, ©Ann Leda Shapiro, Photo: Elizabeth Mann. Tiger Lily, 1976, Patti Warashina, American, b. 1940, Low-fire ceramic with acrylic, 24 x 15 7/8 x 13 1/4 in. (60.96 x 40.31 x 33.66 cm), Seattle Art Museum, Gift of the artist, 89.78, ©Patti Warshina. Susanna and the Eldest, 1981, Honoré Sharrer, American, 1920-2009, Oil on canvas, 41 x 30 in. (104.1 x 76.2 cm), Seattle Art Museum, Gift of Adam Zagorin and Perez Zagorin, 2012.16.1, © Adam Zagorin, Photo: Elizabeth Mann. Stillness #15, 1999, Laura Aguilar, American, 1959-2018, Silver gelatin print, 16 x 20 in. (40.6 x 50.8 cm), Seattle Art Museum, General Acquisition Fund, 2021.39.1, © Laura Aguilar, Photo: Scott Leen.

Pride Month: The Fleet’s In and Queer Art at SAM

Seattle Art Museum on Jun 30 2023

This July marks my one-year anniversary at SAM and June was my first Pride in Seattle. I even had the honor of walking the parade with the city’s Consulate of Mexico. As a gay professional of Mexican descent, this is all a big deal for me!

In my role as the museum’s deputy director for art, I work among so much art, and every day I’m actively discovering captivating items within the SAM collection. Thinking about LGBTQ+ artists, I was surprised to learn that the collection has a print of The Fleet’s In (1934) by gay artist Paul Cadmus. He created this work on paper in response to the censorship of his painting of the same subject. In it, a raucous group of sailors enjoy shore leave while in Manhattan. The original painting, commissioned through the Public Works of Art Project (PWAP) during the Great Depression, caused quite a stir in its day. So much so that it was removed from view for what Naval officers and critics considered “outrageous” for the behavior depicted in the work: the figures, many from the LGBTQ+ community, merrymaking with the featured service men. A queer celebration appropriate for Pride Month! The original painting is part of the Met’s collection, and you can learn more about it here.

To this day, the painting has had limited exposure but it is well known within queer art history. The print version, like the one in SAM’s collection, is important because it was intentionally created by Cadmus in an act of rebellion to disseminate the image and prevent its censorship. He would even credit the uproar with making his work more well known during his life. The work may have garnered a negative response, but the image itself carries gay culture, much of it coded and strategically placed by Cadmus, during a period when homosexuality was illegal. The print at SAM is interesting because it was gifted to the collection in 1944 by the founder of our museum, Dr. Richard Fuller. Could he have known about its notoriety and importance before gifting it to the museum? To more surprise, we also have a 1937 photographed portrait of Cadmus by Carl Van Vechten in the museum collection.

Reflecting on the collection during Pride Month, I sought other queerness currently on view in SAM’s galleries and by gay artists. Pop artist Andy Warhol has a strong presence in the museum; he even came to the museum for a solo exhibition in 1976. His large painting of the musician Elvis Presley as a young gunslinger heartthrob immortalized in silver is not only a reference to the future but to the reflective aesthetic of his famed studio the Silver Factory. It was an inclusive space for its day and a beacon for anyone who felt different, including members of the LGBTQ+ community. Some individuals who stood out even took on a role as “Superstar” of the Factory for their beauty, personality, or talent. While Warhol’s universe tended to focus around himself, his impact on popular culture included making queerness more visual, and many artists today follow in his footsteps.

Everywhere you turn, the museum also has a younger generation of queer artists on view: Mickalene Thomas’s large bedazzled painting, Chicano artist Laura Aguilar’s evocative and haunting black-and-white photography, Native American multidisciplinary artist Jeffrey Gibson’s beaded punching bag with the phrase “If I Ruled the World” in colorful plastic beadwork, Jacolby Satterwhite’s projected video work about his mother and Ballroom culture, Kehinde Wiley’s portrait featuring a Black subject in a classical style and Nick Cave’s maximalist soundsuit. There’s a recent acquisition by Naama Tsabar, an Israeli artist (and friend) whose practice includes intimacy and contact through the tactile materials that she uses, sculptures she builds, and evocative sonic performances. In my previous role at The Andy Warhol Museum, I hosted a performance of hers in conjunction with the exhibition Fantasy America. Titled Stranger, it comprised a double-sided guitar and two nearly physically identical women (the artist and Kristin Mueller) struggling through a non-verbal but acoustic conversation. Many of these artists I have followed for years and have even met. Having them in the collection is so inspiring and special for Seattle.

Although marginalized peoples enjoy this honorary month of acknowledgement, the support in this city is ongoing and Pride Month felt the most festive during a time of nationwide hate and oppression against LGBTQ+ people. In addition, I’ve met so many people, including colleagues at SAM, who are also part of the community or dedicated allies. We work across many departments in the museum and it’s clear we really care about the community in Seattle. Pride Month has passed, but the visibility and support of LGBTQ+ artists has and will continue at SAM.

– José Carlos-Diaz, SAM Susan Brotman Deputy Director for Art

Photos: The Fleet’s In, 1934, Paul Cadmus, American, 1904-1999, print, Eugene Fuller Memorial Collection, 44.229. © Estate of Paul Cadmus. Paul Cadmus, 1937, gelatin silver print, 10 x 7 5/8 in. (25.4 x 19.4 cm), Mary Arrington Small Estate Acquisition Fund and Photography Purchase Fund in honor of Cheryl Ann Christie, 98.87. © Estate of Paul Cadmus.