The Matilda effect is a phenomenon in which women’s achievements are credited to their male colleagues. This is a pattern of overlooking women who have made significant contributions to society. With Due Respect  celebrates the achievements of women who have been subjected to the Matilda effect. My intention is to inspire the next generation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). 
 
Despite each of their discoveries, these women faced years of gender discrimination in their scientific fields. The exhibition opens a conversation about women who often were fearful of speaking up and thus isolated themselves and deprived society of their further contributions. With Due Respect asks: Why have women, specifically working in STEM fields, been written out of history, and how does that impact our current perception of the world?
 
Digitally illustrated portraits are complemented by narratives of women and their achievements. The portraits were designed on an iPad tablet using Adobe Fresco digital drawing software. Blending colors and photographs using a variety of Adobe brushes, sketches became digital painted canvases of colors and textures overlapping one another. Each subject is posed and sketched in an action position reflecting her ownership of her hard work and achievements. The portraits are my conceptualization of their accomplishments.
 
The women are organized chronologically by birth from the years of 1900-2000. Their research, discoveries, and awards overlap one another in fields ranging from physics and astronomy to biology and chemistry. My goal is for my audience to learn from and share these women’s stories.
The thesis exhibition ran from March 15-19, 2022
​​Trisolini Gallery, 405 Baker University Center 1 Park Place