In 2022 I made a series of collages from a 1929 Ladies Home Journal and a 2014 issue of The Gentlewoman. The content of these magazines, with more than 80 years between them, revealed a continued pre-occupation with measuring the value of women in society. Today, our media ecosystem continues to perpetuate this idea. We are held up to impossible standards of beauty and our worth is measured by how much we meet them.
How does media representation contribute to conformity? How are women disempowered by conforming to standards of beauty and behaviour? How do I, personally, move in a world such as this? If I remove all descriptions of my body can I recreate a different self?
Exploring these questions through collage is my way of processing my own experiences as an aging woman with supposed diminishing utility to society. So of course, for a person who has rarely stood in front of a camera, who shies away from any attention, I dove into the discomfort of being photographed for the purpose of creating collage fodder! It seems to me the process of collage, requiring the deconstruction of self portraits and defiantly recreating them, is a fitting metaphor for this project!
I was thrilled to receive a grant to fund the development of source materials with which to make new collages. The grant allowed me to engage artist and educator Joachim Froese as a mentor. I was also able to engage emerging photographer, Kimberley Marston to co-create the photographs as source materials.
This first stage of the project is pretty much complete and the next stage is about reviewing the images and playing with this rich source of material to make analogue and digital collages. As an unexpected bonus, I am so looking forward to developing a series of portraits in collaboration with the very talented Kim Marston.
Thanks to Joachim for his kindness and generosity. Thanks to Kim for helping me to realise my vision in photography.
This project was made possible with funding from the City of Moreton Bay's Regional Arts Development Fund Quick Response Continue Creating grant.
