Haunted by the Ghosts of Our Own Making, Hollis Sigler

Artwork Overview

1948–2001
Haunted by the Ghosts of Our Own Making, 1995
Where object was made: United States
Material/technique: canvas; oil
Credit line: Museum purchase
Accession number: 1996.0008
On display: Michaelis Gallery

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Images

Label texts

Collection Cards: STEM

Some parts of this painting are very easy to see, like the table full of food. Other parts are difficult to see and might even be considered hidden. The skeletons on each side of the table and the writing around the frame may not be easy to identify at first glance.

Can you see the letters DDT drawn into the blue sky above the corn stalks? Under these letters, a white crop duster sprays pesticide on the food below. DDT is the abbreviation for a powerful chemical used to kill insects that could damage crops. DDT was banned in the United State in 1972 because of its harmful effects on the environment and human health.

Chemicals make it possible to get rid of insects and weeds that damage crops and reduce quanitities of food. However, they can also be harmful to people and the environment. Chemicals aren’t the only way to control pests in agriculture. Investigate other ways to control insects and weeds.

Spencer Museum of Art Highlights

Haunted by the Ghosts of Our Own Making is one of a series of paintings Hollis Sigler produced during the summer of 1995 on the causes of cancer. Both because her mother died of cancer, and due to the artist’s recurring struggle against that illness, subjects related to cancer have been prominent in Sigler’s work. The artist died in 2001 from cancer.

Sigler’s painting suggests the work of an untrained artist. She adopted this style, called faux naif, intentionally to identify herself as separate from the male-dominated art scene. Hidden in the brilliantly-colored painting are images of the use of chemicals in agriculture and the inscription around the frame refers to our lack of knowledge of the long-term effects of chemicals

Empowerment

Ghostly skeletal servers attend a vacant table prepared for a harvest feast. While powerful forces may seem invisible, Hollis Sigler makes her message clear through various inscriptions, with the longest around the frame: “Although the use of DDT has been banned by the Government for years, its long-term effects are now being recognized. The cancer-causing potential of pesticides in use today may be hidden for years to come.”

Empowerment

Ghostly skeletal servers attend a vacant table prepared for a harvest feast. While powerful forces may seem invisible, Hollis Sigler makes her message clear through various inscriptions, with the longest around the frame: “Although the use of DDT has been banned by the Government for years, its long-term effects are now being recognized. The cancer-causing potential of pesticides in use today may be hidden for years to come.”

20/21

Haunted by the Ghosts of Our Own Making is one of a series of paintings Hollis Sigler produced during the summer of 1995 on the causes of cancer. Since her mother died of cancer, and intensified by the artist’s recurring struggle against that illness, subjects related to cancer have been prominent in Sigler’s work. The artist died in 2001 from cancer.

Sigler’s painting suggests the work of an untrained artist. She adopted this style, called faux naif, intentionally to identify herself as separate from the male-dominated art scene. Hidden in the brilliantly-colored painting are images of the use of chemicals in agriculture and the inscription around the frame refers to our lack of knowledge of the long-term effects of chemicals.

20/21

Haunted by the Ghosts of Our Own Making is one of a series of paintings Hollis Sigler produced during the summer of 1995 on the causes of cancer. Since her mother died of cancer, and intensified by the artist’s recurring struggle against that illness, subjects related to cancer have been prominent in Sigler’s work. The artist died in 2001 from cancer.

Sigler’s painting suggests the work of an untrained artist. She adopted this style, called faux naif, intentionally to identify herself as separate from the male-dominated art scene. Hidden in the brilliantly-colored painting are images of the use of chemicals in agriculture and the inscription around the frame refers to our lack of knowledge of the long-term effects of chemicals.

Google Art Project

Haunted by the Ghosts of Our Own Making is one of a series of paintings Hollis Sigler produced during the summer of 1995 on the causes of cancer. Both because her mother died of cancer, and due to the artist’s recurring struggle against that illness, subjects related to cancer have been prominent in Sigler’s work. The artist died in 2001 from cancer.

Sigler’s painting suggests the work of an untrained artist. She adopted this style, called faux naif, intentionally to identify herself as separate from the male-dominated art scene. Hidden in the brilliantly-colored painting are images of the use of chemicals in agriculture and the inscription around the frame refers to our lack of knowledge of the long-term effects of chemicals

20/21

Haunted by the Ghosts of Our Own Making is one of a series of paintings Hollis Sigler produced during the summer of 1995 on the causes of cancer. Since her mother died of cancer, and intensified by the artist’s recurring struggle against that illness, subjects related to cancer have been prominent in Sigler’s work. The artist died in 2001 from cancer.

Sigler’s painting suggests the work of an untrained artist. She adopted this style, called faux naif, intentionally to identify herself as separate from the male-dominated art scene. Hidden in the brilliantly-colored painting are images of the use of chemicals in agriculture and the inscription around the frame refers to our lack of knowledge of the long-term effects of chemicals.

20/21

Haunted by the Ghosts of Our Own Making is one of a series of paintings Hollis Sigler produced during the summer of 1995 on the causes of cancer. Since her mother died of cancer, and intensified by the artist’s recurring struggle against that illness, subjects related to cancer have been prominent in Sigler’s work. The artist died in 2001 from cancer.

Sigler’s painting suggests the work of an untrained artist. She adopted this style, called faux naif, intentionally to identify herself as separate from the male-dominated art scene. Hidden in the brilliantly-colored painting are images of the use of chemicals in agriculture and the inscription around the frame refers to our lack of knowledge of the long-term effects of chemicals.

Archive Label 2003:
Haunted by the Ghosts of Our Own Making is one of a series of paintings Hollis Sigler produced during the summer of 1995 on the causes of cancer. Since her mother died of cancer, and intensified by the artist’s recurring struggle against that illness, subjects related to cancer have been prominent in Sigler’s work. The artist died in 2001 from cancer.

Sigler’s painting suggests the work of an untrained artist. She adopted this style, called faux naif, intentionally to identify herself as separate from the male-dominated art scene. Hidden in the brilliantly-colored painting are images of the use of chemicals in agriculture and the inscription around the frame refers to our lack of knowledge of the long-term effects of chemicals.

Exhibitions

Susan Earle, curator
2009–2015
Susan Earle, curator
2016–2021
Susan Earle, curator
2009–2015
Susan Earle, curator
2016–2021
Rachel Straughn-Navarro, curator
Kristina Walker, curator
2019
Susan Earle, curator
Celka Straughn, curator
Kristina Walker, curator
Angela Watts, curator
2022–2027
Susan Earle, curator
Celka Straughn, curator
Kristina Walker, curator
Angela Watts, curator
2022–2027

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