EMBODIED
Embodied is a series of photographs that reflect on the intergenerational transmission of gender patterns in raising children, which can lead to inequality and encourages “gender roles”, the focus on power and success for boys and societal pressure of image and place for girls. From an early age, parents and educators consciously or subconsciously stereotype and model children with gender-related expectations. These children then constitute the society that will further define gender behaviors, creating an ongoing cycle that is difficult to upend.
I use both digital and traditional view cameras to create a series of photographs that aim to unveil these feelings of tension and unease. For the still lifes in this series, I look to flea markets in Vermont for old objects that were used by previous generations. Some of these objects are easy to depict, while others are harder to categorize.
In this photographic series I have recently started to incorporate clay, painting, thread and textile to create a series of images that are often unsettling. Experimenting with alternative photography and ceramics,such as cyanotype and clay that I combined and fired, I aim to transform images into objects to reflect the domestic space, and the upbringing of children.
By altering some of the objects so they appear out of the norm in their ‘traditional’ function, the photographs create a sense of unfamiliarity. Without taking a closer look and an open mind, this can lead to an initial and subconscious feeling of discomfort. Is this why society continues to define gender behaviors based on what is familiar?
My work aims to reflect on questions such as: How would we raise children differently if gender took a backseat? Which traditions should we maintain, and which traditions should we evolve?
THRESHOLD
Early in the morning and late in the afternoon when the sun is low, light penetrates my house and casting shadows. My photographs capture the blend of interior and exterior for brief revelatory moments. Windows become porous, words conjoin, and a tension between restrain and freedom is born.
In his essay the “Uncanny” (1919), Freud investigates the meaning of “heimich” (domestic,familiar) and “unheimlich”. He writes about how the unexpected can render the familiar unfamiliar. My photographs explore this ambiguity by interpreting the familiar spaces of my home in an unsettle manner. I look for the unexpected, staging some of the pictures to create cinematic tension, and leaving undefined what occurred before and may happen after.
This series is a meditation on uncertainty. I explore the beauty found in everyday experience but also anxieties provoked by the unknown, and the reassuring environment we would like to create and control but also the fragility of this ideal.