Paper Issues
Concept: Ashley wanted to convey the holes in the paper representations as pieces that a woman misses from the men she has been with.
A-void
The model holding a paper representation of her “other” self, suggests that she is happy, but the “real” model looks indifferent. She explained that she has to put on a smile when out in public or meeting someone on a date.
The spot light onto the empty spot on the couch implies the presence of a potential suitor making the paper representation she is holding into a shield and mask.
While digitally manipulating this image I though of John Baldessari. He is famous for placing colored dots over people’s faces, forcing us to ask what the image is communicating. Unlike Baldessari I wanted to show the expressions on the faces and relate the matching colored circles to connect the narrative.
Catalyst
Reenactment of myself looking at my first paper woman on my bedroom wall when I was 9 years old. I won a poster of Farrah Fawcett at a carnival in 1979 Brewster NY. She was one of thee most famous females on TV at the time. I don’t remember being aroused by her image but I do know I was under a spell whenever I looked at the poster. I think winning her at the carnival gave it a bit more mystique too. The thought of this scene and the act of hanging a paper woman on my bedroom wall was the catalyst to my artwork in my Master’s thesis.
Aftermath
I was really bummed after a critique from my Master’s program. I was still learning, and making mistakes about what was in my imagery, and how to talk about it. It’s an accumulation of my artwork hung on my bedroom walls and the paper representations I used to make the work on the walls. The paper representations were now making their way into my real life. I haul some of these paper representations to the shoots I do and they already live with me in real life but this shot really sends the message home.