During the 1970’s and early 80’s, I combined metal repoussé with video, film and photo documentation of my performance tableaux in Greece, Egypt, Asia, and Iowa. A recurrent theme then and now is the questioning of cultural myths about women.
Gilmor’s aims are more far-reaching, and found objects – including notes, shovels, rocks — represent just one element of a project that includes photographs, video and performance. Mixing the mythic and the prosaic, Gilmor is out to mine the resonances or archetypal figures and situations in contemporary worlds. Wall altars seem familiar but just out of reach. Her monumental floor pieces, resembling tombs or gravestones, tend towards more complexity: One has dozens of nude figures with animal heads hammered in relief on its metal surface; another incorporates a small television monitor with a videotaped performance. Both formats evince Gillmor’s fascination with both Christian and pagan – especially early Egyptian – imagery. The recurring figure in many of these works is a woman with the head of a cat derived from an Egyptian Goddess.
David McCracken, “Group Show proves Artemisia’s Insight”, Chicago Tribune Friday Oct 20, 1989 Section 7 page 50