Amanda Manitach’s work is an ongoing exercise in the pleasure of drawing. Collectively the pieces document a range of intimate thoughts visually and physically, with words drawn and rubbed into elegant contrasts of delicate pattern and block print honesty. In turn these drawings stain hands and arms, creating a temporary record of each expression. The physicality of the process becomes a type of therapeutic diary, the expressions an amalgam of humor, strength, vulnerably and twisted optimism. “I see my work as a task of both consciously and subliminally sorting out the experience of a female trying to make expressive marks—a task that has found uncanny resonance for me with the history of female hysteria. I am fascinated by history, art, the politics surrounding the female body, and by art that borders on obsessive, meditative devotion.” Manitach’s work has been exhibited at the Frye Art Museum, Bellevue Arts Museum and Tacoma Art Museum. From 2012-2015 she served as curator of Hedreen Gallery at Seattle University. She co- founded and co-directed multiple mixed-use arts spaces in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, including TMRW Party and The Factory.