John Y. Wind | Artist

An imagined installation at the Philadelphia Museum of Art~

37 x 68 x 30”
Capturing my niece at the magical age of 12, aging out of Disney princesses and into Katy Perry, electric guitar, and karate. Shown holding Carla, her beloved Brown Bear’s “East Coast cousin” 
When I recently asked if she would like to add anything to update her portrait, Gavi thought hard and said, ‘Uncle Johnny, we’d just have to start over; I’ve changed so much!’. Thus, this is very much a time capsule, and perhaps I’ll need to create a follow-up piece for Part 2 of the show.

93 x 24 x 24"
When I approached Lynn about her portrait, she was just confronting a painful marital separation. This raised fundamental questions for her about her identity, and while I offered to put it off, she ultimately decided to use our collaboration as a way to help figure things out.
Flags representing her heritage… holiday swag inspired by her Halloween birthday… childhood books and a bud vase from college… vintage scarves and handbags that she enjoys collecting… objects referencing her 7 year old son... The portrait helped her remember who she was just when she needed it most.

22 x 84 x 22"
Family & friends, serious travel, and meaningful work are the cornerstones of Kim’s life, and thus of her portrait as well. Her photos hint at the journeys had on all 7 continents … The boots she hiked Mount Kilimanjaro in are here, along with souvenirs of a life that echo a book also tucked in the portrait: I Married Adventure!

24 x 84 x 24"
When she came to see her portrait mid-way through the process, my fun-loving friend Jenni agreed that what was there was all true—the boa, glitz, souvenirs of our adventure together at Trinidad carnival; but what was missing was the substance. We then went through her library and added a literal and symbolic foundation of authors, ideas, and stories that helped shape confident and multi-faceted women that she is.

36 x 56 x 44”
The actress sits downstage, reflecting on the play that is her life. Backstage houses the props, costumes, and memories she has collected…

114 x 60 x 26"
My mother showed me how to be an artist; her own lifelong practice was serious and thoughtful, and she did it because she just had to. Watching her integrate art with other passions and responsibilities was equally inspiring. Her portrait, housed in the steel locker where she stored her welding gear, is an altar of sorts, from it’s triptych form to the golden halo framing her head. I packed in her love of our family, of the United States and of Israel where we are from, of fashion and style, cooking and entertaining, travel, history, politics, civic engagement, tennis, and, of course, every kind of art.
We worked on her portrait together over the final 6 months of her life, until she died from ovarian cancer at age 76. Her final words on our project were that when the time came, I should upgrade the shoes included in the piece, picking favorites from her closet. And so I did~

24 x 48 x 24”
Wendy has a very public persona as partner in a beloved Philadelphia bakery, but is simultaneously a very private person. We worked on a portrait that offers clues, but maintains her preferred, modest profile.

48 x 48 x 22
When it came to objects, Lauren’s minimalism made the project a little challenging; but when she showed me her Pinterest page for inspiration, we discovered that she already had created a digital self-portrait… She has allowed me to share it in the gallery for the month, situated in a home-office tableau mimicking her own.
To expand on the idea, I’ve created a Pinterest page where others can create a board that serves as their self-portrait, and then share it. For more, visit www.pinterest.com/JYW_thewomen

41 x 96 x 12”
A ‘Dear John’ letter from Jill captured her personality so well that it became the foundation of her portrait. A fellow artist, she suggested writing the letter with her opposite hand, a warm-up technique she uses to tap into a more free, unconscious state…

72 x 84 x 48”
“I want my outfit to be outrageous” was Joan’s first suggestion for her portrait. A fitting request from a woman who has devoted her career to bringing the world’s most avant garde and creative (her favorite word) fashion to Philadelphia. She was the first US store to sell my jewelry back in 1984 and we have been kindred spirits ever since. The portrait is a mash up of the public and the private, in the spirit of Joan herself.

66 x 60 x 8”
Laura’s life story spans five cities, as suggested by the vintage map (her hometown of Baltimore even includes her high school boyfriend’s varsity jacket!)
Finding an exuberant bust that captures her larger-than-life personality was a coup; the fact that the line included a dog mannequin that matched her beloved Brownie was the icing on the cake!

32 X 110 X 24”
Jennifer’s life is a modern whirlwind of fashion, spirituality, family, career, Instagram, girly girl pink and ath-leisure luxe~

72 x 108 x 36”
Portrait of an interior designer whose work is anchored in Classicism, with a shot of Led Zeppelin and a passion for all things celestial. Dance video by Pina Bausch .

79 x 70 x 58"
Anne and I met in our high school art room, and happily reconnected several decades later. Being an artist has always been a major part of her identity, along with being a mom, a rocker, a videographer, and a professor! Her portrait is a distillation of her bohemian home studio, which I really just wanted to transport to the gallery intact…

24 x 92 x 33
“I want a portrait that shows me balancing my kids, my work, and my weight,” Mette said. The rest was easy…

34 x 96 x24”
Hilary and I share a love of collecting and of historic cabinets of curiosity. Her portrait is a 21st century interpretation, filled with souvenirs and curiosities from her own maximal life.

Avon Bicentennial Betsy Ross perfume flacon; metal, glass and plastic charms and chains, mirrored pedestal, glass and wood bell jar, book.
14" x 12" x 12"