Noelle McCleaf
Altars for Suffragettes
Altars for Suffragettes honors five women who marched, protested, or gave their lives to the fight for women’s suffrage in the early 20th century. An altar is a religious structure where offerings are given to gods or goddesses, dating back to countless historical faiths. The still life, similar to the altar, offers a collection of deliberately placed objects charged with mystery and meaning. Each photograph contains a combination of carefully composed artifacts specific to the suffragette’s story, elevating the sacrifices, struggles, and triumphs they made for the good of all.
Noelle McCleaf is a photographer exploring themes of memory, relationship, and identity in the landscape of South Florida.
Born and raised in Virginia, Noelle received her BFA from the Ringling College of Art and Design and her MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, both with a concentration in Photography. In 2018 a solo exhibition of her work opened at the Richard and Barbara Bash Gallery in Sarasota, Florida. Kindred spanned over ten years of photographic work, showcasing sixteen large-scale photographs from A Bee in Her Bonnet and Evie Lou and Laura Jane. In 2019, she participated in exhibitions at Gaze Modern in Sarasota, Florida, Redux Contemporary Art Center in Charleston, South Carolina, The Southeast Center for Photography in Greenville, South Carolina, and at The Center for Fine Art Photography in Ft. Collins, Colorado.
Platforms that have featured her work include Strange Fire Collective, Feminist Photography Network, Don’t-Smile, Lenscratch, Humble Arts Foundation, Blink Magazine, Feature Shoot, Accent Magazine, and Southern Glossary. She currently lives and works in Venice, Florida as an exhibiting artist and Full Time Faculty in Photography and Imaging at the Ringling College of Art and Design.
instagram: @noellemccleaf
