Adele Henderson (b. 1955)

Adele Henderson's Lazaretto, No. 7, includes imagery from Hieronymous Bosch (1450s-1516), the plague, and 19^th-century women surgeons which create a surreal landscape that resonates with dystopian thoughts of the world today. Henderson stated that most of her art is haptic, as she builds loose gestures to more layered and detailed imagery. She has long been interested in the subconscious, medical texts, the history of medicine, Nicholas Flamel (known as “The Alchemyst”), human anatomy, and interior spaces. She often incorporates borrowed, older images within complex, dreamlike compositions; they balance her ability to render subjects accurately and scientifically, while also succumbing to an intuitive style for the substrate. These techniques contribute to an unspoken narrative about the historical struggle of women in professions, especially the sciences, and challenges still facing society in contemporary times. (NW 2018)