People in positions of power have always controlled how and when authority is allowed to look. Historically, some people have had greater freedom and power to look, or to be looked at. They have also had the ability to shape and tell their version of the story.
With the increasing democratization of our screens, alongside growing awareness of racial justice, gender equality, and power disparities, we are beginning to question what has long been accepted as normal and common.
How do we, as a whole, strategically challenge the supposed truths cultivated on our screens? And beyond that, in a time of extreme manipulation of reality, can artists and their work still reflect the cultural environments of which they are a part?
In this art series, painting and video interact as the presented artwork. A border is painted around the central image of the canvas while cinematic motion is projected onto the painting, emphasizing the idea of the screen. The figurative subject is presented in the traditional artistic sense seen throughout history: female, nude, white, young and rendered by a male. But in contrast, her entire body is unshaven, she is blemished, she goes about her business, and she never seductively gazes at the camera at the behest of the viewer. She becomes a subject who challenges the traditional artist-and-model dynamic within the history of screens.
This art focuses on the screen’s influence on the power of looking in today’s culture. The scenario of each piece is, like most art and film, staged to create a particular reality. It explores the exchange between the looker and the one being looked at, where, in the age of screens, certain truths have become increasingly elusive rather than solidified. To illustrate -- adult acquaintances observed pout their lips, seductively look into the camera, apply filters, and want to be looked at as much as possible on the screens of social media. Where lays the desired power?