Bari-lynn friedlander
barilynnf.weebly.com
My artwork is a series of feminist pieces that aim to expose the everyday sexism that women face. In each piece, I deconstruct a different experience or outcome of sexism in our culture. I aim to critique the sexual objectification of women, the misrepresentation of females in the media, the denial of women to decide how to express their sexuality, and the negative impact that this has on women’s body image like mental health issues including depression, anxiety, anorexia, and bulimia. Sexism is making females physically sick, and my intent is to make my viewers feel this disgust as well.
This is a very personal series, as it exposes various obstacles I have faced the past years as I notice myself being misrepresented as a sexual object. It is my first attempt at exposing my own struggles with depression, anxiety, and negative body image. I hope to connect with others, as well as educate those who may have been previously uninformed.
I began my pieces with the first layer as a commentary on the photography of women. Typically, women are photographed to highlight their sexuality and demonstrated with a glossy photo-finish that makes them feel and look more like objects, while also separating them from the viewer by placing them behind this shiny barrier. I, however, took photographs of women in their most vulnerable state - with limited garments and no makeup - and watched as they slowly opened up, becoming more comfortable in their bare skin and transforming from exposed to empowered.
I then gave life to these photographs by painting the women’s faces and chests [with matte acrylic] as they previously appeared in the image, yet slightly changing the color, adding more detail, and enhancing the vibrancy all while creating this extra layer and diminishing the previous barrier. I also added more contrast and clarity to each set of eyes to challenge the male gaze. With this new layer of paint, the image is no longer a photograph confined by a slick barrier, yet has rather become a textured, gritty, and physical being that approaches the viewer.
Once my paintings were finished, the collage process began. This involved tackling the different struggles of gender discrimination and the negative impact that sexist beliefs has had on myself. It was very difficult to decide how to demonstrate this without overpowering the image of the female. However, by creating a collage that worked compositionally, visually, and communicatively with each specific experience of sexism it demonstrated itself complete.
This is a very personal series, as it exposes various obstacles I have faced the past years as I notice myself being misrepresented as a sexual object. It is my first attempt at exposing my own struggles with depression, anxiety, and negative body image. I hope to connect with others, as well as educate those who may have been previously uninformed.
I began my pieces with the first layer as a commentary on the photography of women. Typically, women are photographed to highlight their sexuality and demonstrated with a glossy photo-finish that makes them feel and look more like objects, while also separating them from the viewer by placing them behind this shiny barrier. I, however, took photographs of women in their most vulnerable state - with limited garments and no makeup - and watched as they slowly opened up, becoming more comfortable in their bare skin and transforming from exposed to empowered.
I then gave life to these photographs by painting the women’s faces and chests [with matte acrylic] as they previously appeared in the image, yet slightly changing the color, adding more detail, and enhancing the vibrancy all while creating this extra layer and diminishing the previous barrier. I also added more contrast and clarity to each set of eyes to challenge the male gaze. With this new layer of paint, the image is no longer a photograph confined by a slick barrier, yet has rather become a textured, gritty, and physical being that approaches the viewer.
Once my paintings were finished, the collage process began. This involved tackling the different struggles of gender discrimination and the negative impact that sexist beliefs has had on myself. It was very difficult to decide how to demonstrate this without overpowering the image of the female. However, by creating a collage that worked compositionally, visually, and communicatively with each specific experience of sexism it demonstrated itself complete.