In 2018 I decided to participate in the 100 Day Project. The premise is pretty simple: you do one creative thing, every day for 100 days. My thing was a portrait of a woman who had done something amazing from history. I named the project 100 Wonder Women.
I wanted to make the focus on minority women. While there are some white straight women, I tried to make the majority of my subjects lesbian and bisexual women, trans women, and women of color. What was also important to me is that I focus on women who either are relatively unknown, or who I felt deserved a bigger spotlight. For example, while Frida Kahlo was queer and a woman of color, her face can be found on t-shirts in boutiques across the world, her name is a household name. Much as I love her, you will not find Frida Kahlo among these women.
Beyond that, my methodology for choosing which women was quite unscientific. - I based it on women who, for one reason or another, interested me. I like jazz, so you’ll find a few jazz musicians and singers here. I like literature, so you’ll find a few there. I like women of action who break through societal boundaries, so you’ll find plenty spies and fighters and revolutionaries.