Michelle Smythe: Rangerette Series

Michelle Smythe: Rangerette Series

“My work addresses gender-specific cliches, sometimes overtly as in the “Rangerette Series” and currently in a more subdued approach.”

“The female form, a constant presence in my work, serves as a means to address my own issues with body image and outward appearance, as well as society’s obsession with fashion, conformity, and physical beauty.” M. Smythe

As a student of art, it is incumbent on the artist to decide what they want to investigate in their art. After all, art conveys ideas, experience, and it is a visual language. When the subject is a direct experience of the artist, it can take many months or years to find the tempo of how to show what is essential to the artwork.

When Michelle Smythe (American, b. 1964)  (then Michelle Bowers) arrived at Stephen F. Austin University she had already started on a series of drawings and paintings of her subject while attending Kilgore College, but she had set that aside. She approached her advisor on her graduate exhibition, to say she wanted to start over, and to pursue this series she hadn’t gotten out of her mind. The Rangerette’s are a highly trained precision drill team, that was developed to keep the football attendees in their seats during half time. They succeeded wildly and have just celebrated 85 years strong.

Learn more about artist Michelle Smythe here.