Damara Woodring

The series Lilith and The Good Book explore how religion has shaped and often restricted women’s lives. With everything happening politically, I can’t ignore how close we are to the world Margaret Atwood imagined in The Handmaid’s Tale. Is it really a fiction or just an interpretation of the times, that we keep seeing repeat themselves over and over?

In Lilith, I see the first woman not as someone to fear, but as someone who said no—and paid the price. These portraits are about reclaiming that kind of power: the kind that doesn’t beg for permission. That doesn’t perform. That doesn’t bend to fit another’s ideals.The Good Book looks at the weight of religious teachings that many of us were raised with—how they shaped our bodies, choices, and sense of self.

“My work is about breaking those inherited silences and finding my own voice through the lens.”- Damara Woodring