{"id":1178,"date":"2026-08-04T08:35:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T12:35:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/art-oresman-gallery\/?post_type=jetpack-portfolio&p=1178"},"modified":"2026-08-12T11:39:29","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T15:39:29","slug":"an-absent-presence-the-woman-doctor-of-mount-desert-chloe-sailor","status":"publish","type":"jetpack-portfolio","link":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/art-oresman-gallery\/portfolio\/an-absent-presence-the-woman-doctor-of-mount-desert-chloe-sailor\/","title":{"rendered":"“An Absent Presence: The Woman Doctor of Mount Desert,” Chloe Sailor"},"content":{"rendered":"

On View: September 8 – October 22, 2026<\/b><\/p>\n

Artist Lecture and Opening Reception: Thursday, September 17, 2026 at 5:00 – 7:00 PM
\n<\/b>The Oresman Gallery Artist Lecture Series is<\/em>\u00a0co-sponsored by Smith Office for the Arts and the Department of Art.<\/em>
\n<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

An Absent Presence: The Woman Doctor of Mount Desert <\/span><\/i>reimagines the life of my seventh great-grandmother, Susanna Beal Milliken\u2014the first recorded “doctoress” of Mount Desert Island, Maine. Like countless women’s histories, Susanna’s story survives only in fragments, scattered among archival documents and overshadowed by the narratives of men. In this exhibition, I gather these delicate threads, employing Critical Fabulation\u2014a method of creatively reconstructing lost histories through careful blending of historical fact and imaginative fiction\u2014to mend and illuminate her story.<\/span><\/p>\n

Through quilting, painting, and cyanotype on reclaimed Maine textiles, I create layered landscapes where reality and imagination coexist. The artwork is paired with speculative journal entries, offering an intimate glimpse into Susanna’s internal world\u2014her journeys, emotions, and encounters with the landscape. Together, these pieces form a living, breathing archive, filling gaps left by history and affirming the presence of a remarkable woman whose life might otherwise remain unseen.<\/span><\/p>\n

This project is supported in part by the Maine Arts Commission, which receives support in part from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"Chloe Sailor is an artist living and working in Bangor, Maine. Sailor works in and between painting, fiber arts, photography, and writing to explore ideas of maternal histories and memories that live around us. Recent shows include a solo exhibition at 82Parris (Portland, ME), and group exhibitions at Zilberman Gallery (Miami, FL) and Swan Coach House Gallery (Atlanta, GA). Her studio practice has been supported by an Artist Project Grant from the Maine Arts Commission and a Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Grant. Sailor received an MFA in Studio Art from Florida State University, and holds both an MEd and a BA in Studio Art from the University of New Hampshire. She currently teaches as an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Maine.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On View: September 8 – October 22, 2026 Artist Lecture and Opening Reception: Thursday, September 17, 2026 at 5:00 – 7:00 PM The Oresman Gallery Artist Lecture Series is\u00a0co-sponsored by Smith Office for the Arts and the Department of Art. An Absent Presence: The Woman Doctor of Mount Desert reimagines the life of my seventh […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7600,"featured_media":1176,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"tags":[44],"jetpack-portfolio-type":[47],"jetpack-portfolio-tag":[],"class_list":["post-1178","jetpack-portfolio","type-jetpack-portfolio","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-spring-2026-featured-artists","jetpack-portfolio-type-fall-2026-featured-artists"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/art-oresman-gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jetpack-portfolio\/1178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/art-oresman-gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jetpack-portfolio"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/art-oresman-gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/jetpack-portfolio"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/art-oresman-gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7600"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/art-oresman-gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1178"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/art-oresman-gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jetpack-portfolio\/1178\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1195,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/art-oresman-gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jetpack-portfolio\/1178\/revisions\/1195"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/art-oresman-gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1176"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/art-oresman-gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/art-oresman-gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1178"},{"taxonomy":"jetpack-portfolio-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/art-oresman-gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jetpack-portfolio-type?post=1178"},{"taxonomy":"jetpack-portfolio-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/art-oresman-gallery\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/jetpack-portfolio-tag?post=1178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}