Artist Statement

 

The work in “Skirts” aims to articulate contradictions and tensions between disparate, fractious, and competing versions of female identity. It attempts to make visible that which is experienced but not expressly acknowledged.

Initially whimsical, these images give way to an underlying tension that explores conflicting and inconsistent aspects of female identity. As a result they highlight a struggle between competing and antagonistic options for selfhood.

The central image of the red skirt symbolically fuses the feminine with beauty, fashion, and fantasy reflecting contemporary reality and connecting it to a not so distant past when women were commonly referred to as “skirts”. In so doing, “Skirts” critiques current notions of choice and fluidity that serve as signs of freedom and suggests instead that they serve as markers of disjointed and fragmented identities.

"Skirts" expresses ambivalences and raises questions about the symbolizing of female subjectivity and the images evoke a vision of feminine identity performing a precarious balancing act, all the while maintaining a perfect smile and pose for the mirror and the world.