Mary Nicolett’s pantyhose prints are displayed in several rooms and have been a fun diversion for many of my guests. I purchased eleven of them from Mary’s solo show, “The Lady is a Tramp” at 500X Gallery back in 2002. Originally I had planned to group them on one wall but changed my mind after my home’s restoration. Seven of them are located in my dressing room, three are located in the guest bathroom, and the eleventh print is in the breakfast room.
Mary Nicolett calls them pantyhose prints even though they’re technically Untitled (Layers). Because of a job that required her to wear pantyhose on a daily basis, she was inspired to utilize the packaging card stock and discarded hosiery to create art that was loaded with implications, such as genitalia, sexuality, fetish, and gender politics. She also explored the pantyhose media characteristics of elasticity and air-like qualities and exploited their beauty: the stretching, the snags, the runs, the sheerness, etc. The pantyhose prints were a culmination of these investigations. Each print consists of a pantyhose insert card inkjet printed with derogatory slang that’s been overlaid with a monotype printing process utilizing the actual pantyhose texture.
Patsy Ann — you are brilliantly, over-the-top exquisitely artistic. Julie
Thank you, Julie!