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Ahndraya Parlato’s exhibition “Time to Kill” at the George Eastman Museum is a special occasion. The installation is her museum debut.
An assistant professor at Rochester Institute of Technology, Parlato has published three books of her photographs, each bound by dense and sometimes heavy themes like motherhood, the subjectivity of perspective, and suicide. “Time to Kill ” follows this trend and delves into the idea of “gendered aging.”
Parlato developed the concept after noticing that as women age, they are subjected to a host of expectations and judgments that their male counterparts don’t face. Her intensely personal style of photography seems to be a perfect fit for the subject matter. Parlato’s art features small, deliberate imperfections that ground it in the real world more than traditional styles of photography and painting.
Parlato finds that details like a small blur within a photo or wrinkles on a subject’s face give the work an immediacy. It shows the viewer that they are looking at something completely real, authentic, and personal, rather than something manufactured to fit an ideal of perfection.
Another factor informing Parlato’s process is the belief that art’s subject matter should be reflected in the work itself. Given that her art touches on deep and often messy subjects, her work is brazen and raw at times, and delicate and subtle at others. Parlato blends these features to embody the ideas she hopes to highlight. While this artistic philosophy is present throughout Parlato’s work, understanding it is integral to fully grasping the subject matter of her latest venture.
As a whole, “Time to Kill” is a meditation on self-perception and self-worth in relation to others’ expectations. It has photos, paintings, and sculptures all tied together by narrative letters that convey themes and reflections on them. Interspersed through the abstract journey are photo portraits of older women, which is the central theme of the gallery. They sit casually, as if unaware they are being seen—seemingly freed from the standards imposed so harshly upon them in their lives.
This double standard against women is exactly what Parlato intends to highlight. Women are burdened, as they age, with the impossible task of fighting time and maintaining a perpetually youthful appearance, even into their golden years. Some are admired for their success, and others are gawked at for failing to “cling on” to days past. It’s an unwinnable game that women are forced to play in their lives.
“It’s like a finger trap,” she says.
The other ways she plays with the ideas of aging and perception include a banana in different stages of rot, disjointed mirrors that reflect bits and pieces of viewers back onto themselves, and a correspondence with a vampire unable to see its reflection. Parlato uses these different forms of aging to construct a conversation—not only about how women are and aren’t allowed to look according to societal norms, but also about how that pressure, when so rigorously judged, impacts their sense of self.
“Time to Kill” is a poignant examination of uniquely female experiences, made accessible by a beautiful collection of multimedia art. It will be on display at George Eastman Museum until Jan. 3, 2027.
Brodie Martin is a recent graduate of Nazareth University and a member of the Oasis Project’s third cohort.
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