F r a g m e n t e d

You can view a short video of the moving installation here.

The female body has long been subject to the human eye, but not in the same way that natural landscapes, mighty skyscrapers, or even the male sex has ever been viewed. The female has become known as an object, a fact aided and abetted by the media, across many forms of art, and by society’s overarching ideologies that perpetuate the male gaze.

But what if we were able to appreciate the curve of the female hip exclusively by way of its simple, detached existence? What if our minds were able to grasp a larger message ingrained in not only the female body, but across all bodies alike? What if that message was able to introduce us to a much more subtle beauty ingrained in life—that of the sheer magnificence of an elbow joint or of the grooves in one’s skin that you might only see if you were to look close enough? What if our attraction to the body was not by default sexual in nature, but instead, full of curiosity in the miracle of life?

In order for us to begin conceptualizing what I mean, there is a tall feat in order. One that is by no means easy, but entirely possible and most of all, necessary, if we wish to progress as a unified human race in the future: we must overhaul our understanding and perception of the female body in such a way that detaches us from biased desire and lust.

In Fragmented, I intend to do just that by explicating the female body, a means shared by many artists who pave the road for advances in feminism through their own mediums of art. By breaking down the female body in fragmented parts that make up a whole, allowing each of the constituents to exist individually in their natural states and most basic forms, I alienate the viewer’s perception of the female body. As each fragment rotates freely, the images compliment the greater whole of the series in distinct ways at any particular moment. No longer is the viewer in complete control over what lines and contours their gaze will follow. Instead, they embark on a journey of reacquainting themselves with a well known subject depicted in a disjoint, unfamiliar way. They begin to notice the nuances often overlooked when the image is presented as a whole.

The Images: