Striking images: Artist Lucy Finch draws on parallels between rattlesnakes and strong women

When Lucy Finch moved to Las Vegas, New Mexico, in 2021, the Missouri-born artist had never lived around rattlesnakes.

She decided to research them in the hopes that it would quell her fears. Instead, she found parallels to her own life that mushroomed into a series.

“The way people were treating rattlesnakes was similar to the way people treat women in our society,” Finch said. “As a woman, I have continually felt all kinds of unjustified anger; ‘I just say hello to you and you’re on the attack.’ People lash out.”

Striking images: Artist Lucy Finch draws on parallels between rattlesnakes and strong women

The project’s inspiration came from a PBS story about a “Rattlesnake Roundup.”

“I replaced the snake-related words with words about strong women and I think it reads the same,” Finch said. For example, “Strong women have long struck terror in many people — the unfortunate result of this fear is that some people routinely kill any strong woman they encounter, even those who pose no threat.”

That snake investigation evolved into a series she calls “Rattlesnakes,” a collection of 13 portraits of strong New Mexico women, now on view at Gallery OneSixSix in Las Vegas, New Mexico, through Oct. 5.

Even in contemporary art, some artists claim they love the female form, but then they cut the head off, Finch said.

“And when you kill rattlesnakes, you behead them,” she added.

So the artist decided to paint pastel portraits of strong women in northern New Mexico, relying on word-of-mouth to source them.

As she worked at her easel, Finch’s subjects opened up, telling her of the heartache in their life stories.

Some had received death threats, many were abused during childhood and/or marriage. One awoke to her husband trying to kill her.

“To have these really difficult lives and come out smiling again,” Finch said, “you have to choose how to manage it.

“So often these women got married right after high school and this person was not a good fit,” she added.

Some left their marriages, raised their kids alone and returned to school to develop careers.

The women posed from two to four times. Finch spent about a month on each portrait.

“Evelyn” radiated joy in her 70s. Born and raised in Wagon Mound, she had lived a challenging life through a career in social work.

“She is in love with life,” Finch said. “She lived through all this and came out the other side. Part of it is being retired; your life can slow down a bit. She has dedicated her retirement to doing the things she loves with the people she loves.”

“Laureen” was “born into heartache,” the artist said.

“She had a really abusive household. Her father and his sisters showed her what kindness was. She found her inner strength and was able to break away from the abuse, and has dedicated her life to helping people break away from their abuse. She was a teacher and she fought for her students.”

“Yolanda” never had a career. But she ended up performing volunteer work and discovered she was an excellent community organizer, Finch said.

A onetime advertising designer, Finch took up painting just five years ago when she was sailing up the Inside Passage on the way to Alaska.

“When I was up there, I met a woman willing to teach me techniques that date back to the Renaissance,” she said. “Before I met her, my stuff looked cartoonish.”

Today she supports herself by performing remote data entry, teaching belly dancing and walking dogs, she said.

“I’m part of the gig economy.”