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About IAO

Location:
706 W. Sheridan
Downtown OKC
between Lee & Shartel

Gallery Hours:
Tuesday - Saturday
Noon - 6:00pm

Other times available by appointment

Closed Sunday & Monday

Mary Lou Stokes

Artist Statement

My work serves to investigate and deconstruct the many complex systems of social discourse and mechanisms which shape our daily lives. From birth we are inundated by a complex array of images designed to shape our perceptions of self and the world around us. These image systems are employed by the cultural elite to inculcate us, as future consumers, into the image commodity systems which maintain their power.

I investigate how these systems affect self image, personal relationships, and the hierarchy of the power structure. I am particularly interested in the way these mechanisms contribute to destructive disorders in women and I wish to expose the social fabric which weaves such complex psychological and emotional disorders as anorexia, bulimia, self-mutilation, and others. These disorders have affected me personally and it is my desire to increase awareness of these issues so that we can move society in a more enlightened direction; a direction based on informed personal choice and inspired freedom from hegemonic manipulation. It is, I grant, a long row to hoe, but awareness and meaningful discourse make it possible.

Pretty in Pink

'Cause I'm a Woman

Hegemony in Blue, intaglio and photography on aluminum

Corporatocracy, intaglio and photography on aluminum

Stigma Codex, intaglio and photography on aluminum


Legacy Barbie , intaglio and photography on aluminum

The Real You, intaglio and photography on paper

Fallen Angel , intaglio and photography on aluminum