Mirrored Back
Mirrored Back
Mazmanian Gallery
Framingham State University, Framingham, MA
September 4 - 28, 2018
Mirrored Back creates a relationship between the photographic backdrop and the human spine – two support structures that are supposed to be invisible. I am interested in the way seamless backdrop paper replaces real context with a flat negation of place, and strives to create a seemingly neutral site. I cut through a backdrop and photographed my back behind the cutout – performing with my back as the backdrop for the backdrop. I see this kind of role reversal as a way to engage physically with the doubt I feel about the achievability of neutrality, especially in relation to images of human bodies and the representation of gender, race, sexuality, health, age, etc. The photographic elements in Mirrored Back are paired with wall hung abstracted figurative sculptures that are sized to match the cutout I created, and painted with colors matched to the pixels in the skin sections of the photographs. With these objects I prioritize the back as the frontal view, and deal with the spinal column as a protrusion, as opposed to a form hidden beneath skin and flesh.