As our screens become more democratized, the realities of racial justice, gender equality, and disparities in power must be increasingly questioned. How, then, do we address the supposed truths cultivated on our screens in a time of extreme manipulation? Can artists still truthfully reflect their cultural environments in the age of screens?
In this art series, the idea of the screen is emphasized as a border is painted around the central image of each canvas while cinematic video is projected onto the painting. At the exact moment the movement of the video syncs with the moment captured in the painting, the motion briefly pauses and the location, date, and time appear upon the work. A precise moment, recorded within all of space and time.
The same woman appears in thirteen separate works. She is presented in a traditional artistic sense seen throughout history: female, nude, white, young, and rendered by a male artist. Yet, in contrast, her entire figure is unshaven, she is blemished, she goes about her business, and she does not stare seductively at the viewer. She becomes a subject who challenges the traditional artist-and-model dynamic within the history of screens.
The scenario of each piece explores the exchange between the looker and the one being looked at, where, in the age of screens, certain truths have become increasingly bent rather than solidified. To illustrate, adult acquaintances pout their lips, gaze seductively into the camera, apply filters, and seek to be looked at as much as possible through social media screens. Where does the desired power to look, or to be looked at, truly lie?
Perhaps the desire is not to look or be watched in order to reduce and detach—but to find beauty, connect, and appreciate.