'The Reincarnation Triptych' grew out of my research into women's history at a time when there was no women's studies, and the accepted thing was that women had no history. I wanted to represent and honour the contributions of women through a series of abstract portraits that prefigured 'The Dinner Party'. The paintings are structured as compositions with a centre square – a reference to the pressure of social convention and women breaking out of the constraints of the construct of femininity, the outer image and the inner image and the fight for dominance.
Judy Chicago
Go behind the scenes
Our master printmaker Tom Murphy on the vision and craft behind uniting three of Judy's iconic works in one silkscreen edition and its hidden 'easter egg'.