The fitting process
Lightboxes and print installation, video
Spain
work in progress
The fitting process is composed of a series of images and videos that represent an allegory of the creation process of an iconic-woman image. From a gender perspective, the intention is to poetically decontextualize and point out the artificiality of the representations of the female body that proliferate in our current visual culture. Although it is true that technological tools help to generate an increasingly unrealistic standard of beauty, the origin of the objectual gaze towards women’s bodies is a structural problem that has been maintained since the past. The choice of a Neoclassical reference in which to fit our Venus refers to this fact, as well as opens the door to other debates about the archaic feminine imaginary that popular culture currently manages. Ingres’ “Turkish Bath” (1863) is a very useful piece that, not only acts as a starting point, but it signals out the need to create representations that differ from the collective patriarchal imaginary. The use and manipulation of a classic piece of remarkable fame seeks to signal the urgency of rereading the great works of art history with a new approach, as well as the themes and schemes of representation they proposed. How do we look at female bodies? Do we see it as a raw material that we must refine through physical or digital processes to be suitable for sexual consumption, erotic contemplation or advertising ornament?; How are we going to react when we discover the lie that hides in the screen when the physical contact reveals tender skin? Classic or digital representation techniques are just tools that, as we can see in these pieces, can be used in different ways. It is the heteropatriarchal vision of our culture that feels uncomfortable with the sight of the natural embodiments of women. Text curated by Marea Gómez
María Sánchez
Valencia, Spain
Visual artist and researcher
Interested in the materiality and mutability of the image, I like to investigate its ability to generate fictions and discourses. The construction of gender and identity, as well as its close relationship with social networks are the bases that, in one way or another, define my artistic practice. My work materializes through painting, photography and video. Sometimes I like to make publications as a tool to condense the conceptual and visual aspects of my work together or online projects.