Jane Maxwell

Over her 25-year career, Maxwell has openly challenged the societal pressure women face to achieve perfection. She delves into the internal conflict between resisting media messaging and succumbing to fashion, diet, and anti-aging trends. Maxwell is fascinated by the duality of how women present themselves to the world versus their messy internal lives.

Maxwell’s most recent solo show, titled In Your Face, will premiere at Lanoue Gallery in Boston in October 2025. This collection continues her exploration of the age-old struggle between acceptance and perfection, specifically focusing on the pressure women feel to look younger. Materiality remains a central theme in each piece, as Maxwell incorporates discarded vials, boxes, and instruction pamphlets from anti-aging products, stitching, sanding, gluing, and stapling them onto wood panels.

In her artist statement for the show, Maxwell reflects on the pervasive message of looking younger, evident in Botox ads, Demi Moore’s face, and the numerous anti-aging products available at Sephora. Despite this pressure, she acknowledges that the “age gracefully” philosophy still resonates with many. Maxwell questions whether women should radically accept their aging signs or succumb to products and procedures.

At 61 years old, Maxwell herself experiences this internal conflict. While she tries to embrace her crows feet and crepey neck, she also finds herself seeking a syringe for an upcoming event or feeling particularly saggy. This show serves as a exploration of the dynamic tension between acceptance and perfection, and surrender and resistance.

Works of art are layered with discarded boxes, vials, and instruction packets from anti-aging products, meticulously collected over two years by her daughter, an Aesthetic RN. These materials are stitched, sanded, glued, and stapled onto aging billboard-papered panels.

The imagery depicts silhouettes kicking or shoving a hand toward the viewer in defiance of the onslaught of pressure. Others are seated in power poses, comfortably embracing their skin. Sculptures include a dress crafted from syringe packages tied with ribbon bows titled Red Carpet and a Botox vial- and crystal-encrusted floor lamp called Shiny Objects.

IN YOUR FACE is a judgment-free space, devoid of good or bad, right or wrong. It’s a show about pressure, conflict, and empowerment. Ultimately, it’s about a woman’s right to choose—the power to feel how she wants and do what she wants, when she wants, with her body (and face).