The fetish.
The entirety of my practice relates back to this one word that has plagued the psyche of humanity since the sixteenth century upon the Western Europeans’ discovery of African Tribal worship… and in their confusion, ignorantly accusing the African tribes of fetishistic blasphemy.

I am attempting to examine the materiality of the fetish, and how we in society use sexualisation as a method to control things we fear or don’t understand – such as the female image and identity.

Exposing the objectification of the female image and the fetishised glorification of violence against women within the media and society is incredibly important to me as a feminist message, and my work focusses on targeting the audience and highlighting the absurd constructs we’ve placed around the female image by providing a provocative space that invites to sexualise.
John Berger’s concept of the ‘Male Gaze’ plays an important role here in my examination, as it is the gaze I am trying to question when creating my pieces.

I would say stylistically I fall somewhere between realism and sensationalism. My research into the role of women in the Hollywood film industry and the sensationalist ‘pin-up’ caricatures satirising the feminine experience has heavily influenced the aesthetic of my practice. In my recent work, the visual pleasure of an audience is a key concept, and how I can manipulate this through the medium of paint. I believe that painting allows for building a narrative that can resonate with the viewer and create a dialogue between them and the work which allows for a more in-depth interpretation of the pieces. I do this by creating an introspective of characters that assume dual roles of both subject and object. Object-orientated photography is an accompaniment to this process, which I use as a foundation to then build on with paint in order to authentically create more unexpected works the audience can relate to on a personal level which in turn informs my own research on human nature in relation to the fetish and the revenge fantasy of women as they rise up against the confines of patriarchy.

I have taken a lot of influence from artists such as Lisa Yuskavage and Cindy Sherman who as women artists, all focus on interpretation of the female experience. Cindy Sherman’s untitled film stills played a big role in my exploration of film, and the impact it has on the viewer when given a clip – I want to explore where the viewer then takes the narrative within their own mental landscape which is influenced by their personal experiences me as the artist cannot control.
Yuskavage focusses heavily on the concept of the ‘female gaze’ and re-establishing ownership of the female body. This concept is really important to my practice as it is a key concern within the feminist movement in terms of feminine identity within the Lacanian patriarchal ideals of male supremacy.

Outside of art, my greatest influence would be from observation of human habitats and analysing the reasoning behind our odd quirks – specifically the provocative, and how that in turn stems from past experience. I like the idea of revealing the darker tabooer parts of our natures and confronting the public with it as part of my exposé on the realities of feminine identity and how much we influence the male ego.