Snowflake Series (Pink Netting) 1965

May Wilson made this collage, part of her Snowflake Series, from cut paper and magazine imagery. Wilson’s artistic journey began later in life, after a long period of domesticity, and it's a testament to her willingness to challenge societal expectations of women in the mid-20th century United States. The collage is made up of a black and white photograph of a male bodybuilder, overlaid with geometric shapes and patterns. These shapes, reminiscent of snowflakes, are constructed from netting and other patterned papers, obscuring and fragmenting the male form. Wilson’s choice of imagery and technique creates a complex interplay of ideas, from gender and sexuality to beauty and identity. The image subverts the traditional male gaze by deconstructing and reassembling the idealized male form. To fully understand Wilson's work, we can turn to sources from the feminist art movement and social histories of American suburbia, which help us see the artist’s challenge to conventional notions of femininity and creativity.