Minna Resnick​

This series originates from a beginners grammar text published in 1900.  First, what fascinates me about this source is that the pictorials used to illustrate the sounds are sometimes old enough that the reference to the source is lacking.  What was assumed to be common knowledge among young schoolchildren one hundred years ago is lost to most contemporary adult audiences today.  Additionally, from the diagrams that are recognizable, many are dated and refer to a specific era.

 

Second, as with all grade school grammar texts, all visual clues are kept neutral, that is, there is never any suggestion of the sexual, which is quite appropriate for grammar texts – for any age, at any time.    However, that is precisely my point.  I want to use those structures of building language and make counterpoints:  my illustrations are of women working at traditionally female tasks – sewing, doing laundry, cooking, cleaning.  That’s my equivalent to the original diagrams describing an action that starts with the specific consonant sound.  I paired them with a sexual or sensual word component using that same consonant sound to include another view to the physical, namely, a woman’s sexual side.