Chicks with Balls
I asked my female friends and family to take off their tops for me and pose holding a variety of balls to cover their breasts. Oddly enough, many of them said yes…and here’s why.
These chicks really do have balls. And not just the kind it takes to have a little fun and show some skin. They are truly the unsung heroines of their ordinary lives…and that’s why I picked them.
Then I asked them to pick their balls by thinking metaphorically and symbolically to represent their strengths and struggles.
There is great depth and complexity in the challenges my ladies have faced. Some follow disciplined paths to success, and others reinvent well-planned lives turned upside down. Some are starting, some starting again.
They’re sandwiched between parental dementia and teenage anxiety and depression. Some have survived cancer and found inner strength when illness has taken it.
Some are guided by great faith, some by great faith in self. A few have survived heartbreak and betrayal and held their head high.
One jumps from airplanes, another runs triathlons, one plays rugby, a few play tennis and many cheer for their children at whatever sport they are playing.
They fight for their children and with their children. They care for sick parents, children, husbands, siblings and have also buried parents, children, husbands, and siblings.
They speak their minds when they should and sometimes when they shouldn’t, but will always keep a secret to protect someone they love, as I am keeping their secrets even while celebrating how well they deal with them.
They dance, they sing, they paint, they create, they document, they heal, they learn, they fall down and get back up, they help and they love. And, quietly and efficiently from the shadows they ensure that the people in their charge are loved and cared for.
These ladies are you and they are me. We do so much that goes unnoticed, but so profoundly affects those we love. We don’t want sympathy, but we do deserve credit.
It is our stories that I blog about and that inspire these paintings. I could have named the show, “Portraits of Female Courage”, but I think it’s way more fun to call this collection “Chicks with Balls.”
Show opens at BAYarts August 9th.
Judy Takács
judytakacspaintspeople.com
chickswithballsjudytakacs.blogspot.com
Chicks with Balls: Judy Takács paints unsung female heroes
August 9 – 30, 2013
Opening Reception: 7-9 pm August 9
Gallery Talk: 7 pm August 14
Workshop with Judy Takács: August 24-25
BAYarts
28795 Lake Road
Bay Village, Ohio 44140
440.871.6543