Conversation with Meg Cranston, Los Angeles, 2003

In this conversation with Meg Cranston, thoughts on surrogacy and self-representation recur, as embodied by her piece The Woman Who Would Play Me If I Paid Them, where she invites others to assume her identity, reversing traditional roles and challenging notions of authorship and authenticity. Another work—a piñata self-portrait—investigates the coexistence of victimization and power. “Although it’s violent—what you do to it, you hit it, and the candy comes out—it’s not a negative symbol... I don't think it’s about masochism; it’s more about mastery through masochism.” Cranston connects this interplay to feminist practice, referencing Yoko Ono’s Cut Piece. She explains that her work, in line with Cut Piece, touches on aspects of empowerment through vulnerability. As a young artist, Yoko Ono became a key role model for Cranston: “I had this idea for a piece, and nobody answered. It was kind of a mail art thing. The only person who answered was Yoko Ono. She telephoned me and said, ‘You know, I don't know why I’m calling you, because I get tons of mail.’ It was very soon after John Lennon died.”

Cranston stresses the challenges women artists face in balancing personal and professional lives, especially motherhood. She notes that the increasing professionalization of art blurs the roles of creator, manager, and public figure, intensifying struggles—particularly in environments where support for raising children is limited and motherhood in the artworld remains a taboo: “The assumption is immediately that if you have a child… your art will go soft.” Many women artists delay motherhood in their 30s, risking fertility and facing heartbreak in their 40s. “Many friends say, ‘I would have done it in my 30s, but I couldn’t afford it or thought if I stopped for a year, I’d have no career.’” This situation, she argues, is a critical feminist issue today.
Though the achievements of earlier generations have today opened doors to artistic success, female artists continue to face greater financial hardship than their male counterparts. “You didn’t realize that even though Barbara Kruger was getting a lot of press, she wasn’t making any money compared to her contemporaries.” Cranston notes that this disparity becomes more pronounced as women age: “[There are] lots of opportunities for young, attractive female artists... then they get to be about 40, and it’s a different story.”