BARBARA ABEL has won national recognition and a cult following for her series entitled "Tragic Beauties",photo images of turn-of-the-century European mannequins. These evocative and hauntingly beautiful photographs are meant to reflect the emotions and spiritual unrest of the women of the 19th and early 20th century. The mannequins which were portrait representations of the unknown sitters have the sensuous lips, spiritual eyes and soul-wrenching gazes found in the Pre-Raphaelite paintings created during that same period. However, to quote the artist, "They seem to transcend the 19th century and speak to us with a contemporary poignancy."