When visiting the Jewish Museum, I was struck by the work in each exhibition, and I felt shocked that I had never been to the museum before given how much I liked the art on display. Particularly, I thought the Rachel Feinstein Show “Maiden, Mother, Crone” was really interesting and quite excellent. Not only was the technique Feinstein implemented into her work just exceptional but she also gave greater meaning to the work by creating dichotomies in her work. Each piece was very cohesive in nature, but certain elements of the works were contrasting. I think to antithesize these elements was very powerful, and it is what struck me most about her work. 

The piece I chose to analyze in greater depth is a portrait of an older woman dressed elegantly with a mirror as the background. This piece constitutes conceptual art because Feinstein uses it to comment on the issues women must face throughout their lives. As the blurb says, Feinstein’s work is meant to demonstrate three stages in a woman’s life, “maiden, mother, crone.” These stages signal a woman’s progression from youth to old age, and I believe this portrait is an amalgamation of all three stages. For instance, her fingers do not look like those of a human, and her skin isn’t life-like, which is where the “crone” identity comes in. At the same time, she is still dressed elegantly to maintain her poise and has many other feminine qualities. I think Feinstein is highlighting how women take on many identities throughout their lives and the fact that they are ever-changing causes a great deal of conflict. Moreover, the mirror in the background is a symbol meant to highlight the fact that vanity is fleeting in nature because the mirror is behind her as though her vanity is her past. 

This work is political in a way because it highlights the patriarchal structure of society that would force a woman to take on so many identities, which do cause conflict for a woman. I think having a mirror-like background is also interesting because it forces the viewer to see themselves in the piece of work. Consequently, the viewer is forced to put themselves in the shoes of the woman, or less figuratively, the viewer is forced to empathize with the woman. If the viewer is a man, the mirror juxtaposes the identity-conflict the painted woman is having with the man. If the viewer is a woman, however, the mirror would make the viewer reflect upon their own changing identity. For both genders, Feinstein wants the viewers to acknowledge the fact that women have to deal with this conflict, and therefore, confront the systemic issues that contribute to such. Universally, the acknowledgment of the unjust nature of society is the first step to then galvanizing people into action against these systemic issues.