Alice Paul with Nosebleed
Encaustic with vintage buttons, plastic clips, rubber funnels and latex tubing on birch wood panel
30” x 44”
2010

This painting tells the story of the Alice Paul. She was a quaker, a suffragist and a brilliant tactician who organized parades and protests in Washinton Dc. Her nickname was “The Commander.”

Alice Paul became involved in Suffrage in 1907, when she travelled abroad for college. By 1917, after organizing numerous events and parades, she decided it was time for her to stand in the front line and face arrest for the cause.
On October 17, 1917, she left her main command post at her house and joined the picket lines at the white house. Police arrested her and a judge gave her a 7-month prison sentence at District prison in Washington Dc.
While here, she began a hunger strike to protest her unjust arrest and the poor conditions at the jail.
Prison officials responded to this by moving her to the psychiatric ward and forced feeding her raw eggs. This was a painful procedure, as doctors forced a tube down her nose and then poured the liquid into it. Nosebleeds were common side effect.
In this painting, Alice Paul looks out at us. Her nose bleeds, but the butterflies in the background predict a transformation will happen. A month later, she was released.
As a shocked public heard of the brutality inflicted on her and her fellow protesters, attitudes changed on Suffrage. Two months later, President Wilson announced a bill on women’s voting rights.