This was a tough one. Very conflicted about what to do. I really did not want to do a self-portrait (especially on the heels of another one. And the movie series was interesting but didn't inspire me.
So I did a hybrid!
For me, her work is a social commentary on the role of women, and their appearance is a mask they wear to navigate society. Women are incredibly pressured to conform to idealized roles and narrowly-defined ideas of beauty, creating a lot of angst to be the right size, the right weight, the right age, the right color, the right style. To the point that we can no longer see our own natural beauty.
And since most of us do not come close to any of these absurd parameters, it is torture to try to fit into them. It's enough to kill anyone's spirit.
I love this image and fully expect it to bomb.
Well this was a pleasant surprise!! Thank you for your generous comments and votes!
Susan: the title is a play on the word "conforming", as in conforming to the norm, and has nothing to do with horses and sewing machines :)
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I find this so intriguing and so disturbing. ha... Yet I think it is very much in the style of Cindy Sherman. Well done. I can't imagine the setup and patience to make this happen. Kudos and congrats.
Grats on the red, Johanna! I have to admit the title confused me a little...as a onetime horse professional, to me the word 'Conformation' is all about how well a horse is put together. A horse with good conformation, a good blending of angles and body parts, is a joy to ride. A horse with poor conformation can feel like riding a sewing machine while it's falling down a hill.
So, in this sense, I thought you were referring to how the girl herself is put together - as it is, she is lacing herself into a corset.
But maybe you meant to convey the sense of Confirmation instead, which is entirely different - the model is looking at the head and wig as though affirming that she too is meeting the rigid sense of beauty so prevalent in society? So which is it?
Love it, all the things to look at, looks like you built a story around this person, the clothes, shoes, the point of the toes and the window frame. There's a great light to this and an underlying darkness that I see in many of Cindy Sherman's photos.
conformation
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