by Izzy Drake

Mandy Wallace’s piece “Plantinting” (fig.1) glows off the pages of the third issue of Sinister Wisdom, published in 1977. The soft, pale figure in the center of the piece emits light along with the moon, and the tiny, sporadic stars in the night sky that almost seem pimply. She kneels on a field that mimics a vulvic or mammillary form, weaving humanity and nature in its shapes. The figure holds a gardening rake that rests on her shoulder, as the other hand loosely drops seeds into the soil. In the distance, a small house and tree sit atop a hill, reminiscent of the painting, “Christinas World” by Andrew Wyeth. In scrawled cursive, “Plantinting,” the misspelling of “planting” is written. Mandy Wallace said, “It was a mistake, but I like mistakes. I have a lot of respect for accidents.”


Wallace was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and lived in Charlotte, North Carolina, a possible influence for the atmosphere and geographical setting of this piece. During her time in Charlotte, she studied with writer Bertha Harris at UNC Charlotte and met Catherine Nicholson. Through Catherine, Wallace would learn of a women’s center starting up in town. There she would meet Harriet Desmoines, who, with Catherine Nicholson founded Sinister Wisdom. Wallace said, “So, I started showing up there, and there was a group of lesbians who wanted to talk about lesbian theory. We decided to form a Separatist group and call ourselves Drastic Dykes.”


In that group, Mandy met a friend who spent a summer on a “Back to the Land” farm. This was a part of what inspired Mandy to create “Plantinting.” She said that it felt sentimental and romantic. The piece was formally inspired by the 15th Century Book of Hours of Jean, Duke de Berry. Mandy said, “…It was illustrations for a prayer book and very much tied to the seasons…The sort of idealist form, the arch, the stars in the sky being so ordered, the formalized, stylist, landscape, it was inspired a lot by that.” When asked what the figure was planting, Wallace said, “My first thought was probably some okra and some marijuana.”

Similar styles and themes can be seen in her other works published in Sinister Wisdom. In the first issue of Sinister Wisdom, published in 1976, her work (fig. 2) reads in her previously seen cursive, “the beast, disguised as nurse, takes the daughter.” It depicts a human form lying on a bed, their limbs bent in unnatural ways. On the figures arm, the letter “A” can be seen which implies “Amazon.” Behind the figure on the bed, in the doorway, is a small, unsettling looking creature in a classic nurse’s uniform holding what looks to be a swaddled newborn in its arms. The piece was inspired by a mythological story that Harriet Desmoines told Wallace about a beast taking a daughter and a news article about a nurse who stole a newborn from the hospital. In Sinister Wisdom 4, published in 1977, her work (fig. 3) is featured on the cover. She did illustrations for “Ket Meets the Dragon” By Joanna Russ (fig. 4 and 5), which explores more naturistic themes. In a journal entry published in the first issue of Sinister Wisdom, Wallace wrote, “…My work always has a degree of melancholia about it. ‘Nobody knows what it means. I don’t know what it means until after the fact – just like everything I do.”


Mandy Wallace now lives in California where she finds that her work is more narrative yet associative while it still holds romanticism in its style and themes. She said, “Oftentimes there’s tragedy and resolution… I work from observation more, although I compile from a lot of different sources.” She shared that she is now working on a project called “Nature Is A Lot About Eating” which seeks to capture the complexities of the cycles of life.


Check out Mandy Wallace’s work on her website (https://www.mandywallace.net) and view her past work with Sinister Wisdom on the archives page of the Sinister Wisdom website.

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Isabelle Drake is a writer and poet who lives in Savannah, Georgia and has lived all around the world. She is a graduating senior at the Savannah College of Art and Design, getting her BFA in Writing. She has focused her writing and studies in feminist and lesbian topics.