144 years

144 years is a series of three multi-layered portraits. Each of the three portraits is an amalgam of thirty-three images of the thirty-three women who have campaigned and won their party’s nomination for the US presidency from 1872 to 2016. Echoing earlier work, such as Helen & Miss Smith from 1996, Episalla again photographs and re-photographs found images. The layering of each portrait, in chronological order, one a top the next, at percentages of black, result in fluid images where facial recognition, gender, race and individuality morph, in a manifestation of the layers and legacies of herstory.

Thirty-three women who have campaigned and won their party’s nomination for the US presidency from 1872 to 2016:
• 1872 Victoria Woodhull, Equal Rights Party • 1884 Belva Ann Lockwood, National Equal Rights Party • 1888 Belva Ann Lockwood, National Equal Rights Party • 1940 Gracie Allen, Surprise Party • 1952 Mary Kennery, American Party • Ellen Linea W. Jensen, Washington Peace Party • Agnes Waters, American Woman’s Party • 1968 Charlene Mitchell, Communist Party • 1972  Linda Jenness, Socialist Workers Party • Evelyn Reed, Socialist Workers Party • 1976 Margaret Wright, People’s Party • 1980 Deirdre Griswold, Workers World Party • Ellen McCormack, Right to Life Party • Maureen Smith, Peace and Freedom Party • 1984  Gavrielle Holmes, Workers World Party • Sonia Johnson, Citizens Party • 1988 Lenora Fulani, New Alliance Party • Willa Kenoyer, Socialist and Liberty Union parties • 1992 Lenora Fulani, New Alliance Party • Helen Halyard, Socialist Equality Party • Isabell Masters, Looking Back Party • Eileen Myles, Openly-Female Write-in Candidate • Gloria La Riva, Workers World Party •1996 Marsha Feinland, Peace and Freedom Party • Mary Cal Hollis, Socialist Party, Liberty Union Party • Isabell Masters, Looking Back Party • Monica Moorehead, Workers World Party • Diane Beall Templin, The American Party • 2000 Cathy Gordon Brown, Independent • Monica Moorehead, Workers World Party • 2004  Diane Beall Templin, The American Party • 2008 Cynthia McKinney, Green Party • Gloria La Riva, Party for Socialism and Liberation • Diane Beall Templin, The American Party • 2012 Roseanne Barr, Peace and Freedom Party • Peta Lindsay, Party for Socialism and Liberation • Jill Stein, Green Party • 2016 Hillary Clinton, Democratic Party • Jill Stein, Green Party