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STORYTELLER<br />
Didi took the perspective of an artist, intending to<br />
breathe new life into a legacy that had nearly been<br />
extinguished by controversy.<br />
says. “There was just no one to promote Malvina,<br />
so within a generation she’s forgotten.”<br />
Didi was so consumed by Malvina Hoffman<br />
that she felt compelled to write the<br />
initial manuscript in the first person<br />
(she later changed it to third person).<br />
“She was my muse,” Didi says. “I do feel<br />
like she was in my head and pushing me.”<br />
Didi looked for publishers along the way but was<br />
repeatedly told that “we already have too many<br />
stories about women artists,” which raises the<br />
question, When is a story about a celebrated<br />
female artist who shattered the glass ceiling<br />
at the turn of the last century considered one<br />
“too many”?<br />
It took Didi five years to complete Beautiful Bodies:<br />
The Adventures of Malvina Hoffman, which she<br />
self-published this past February. She continues<br />
to lecture around the country about Hoffman’s<br />
legacy, telling the sculptor’s story as often and<br />
in as many ways as possible, bravely reshaping<br />
what women and artists know about ourselves,<br />
our history and our place in the world.<br />
It’s important work, being a storyteller.<br />
Beautiful Bodies: The Adventures<br />
of Malvina Hoffman<br />
by Didi Hoffman<br />
didihoffman.com<br />
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