Proudly To The Vast Ballroom
In 2000, my boyfriend and I decided to get married and we went shopping for rings. When I mentioned to the salesperson that I liked the “square one” she informed me that it was “princess cut” then, in a misguided effort to make her sale, urged me to try it on declaring that it was “perfect for a princess like you!” I walked away offended and baffled - we decided to not buy diamonds and not to get married. Years later and married to that boyfriend, I am making photographs that are directly inspired by the assumption that any woman can fit neatly into a little pink plastic package despite her plans, desires and personality.
The philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said: “One is not born a woman, one becomes one.” My work deals specifically with how we, as a culture, become women (and men) as distinctly influenced by our interpretations of literature – specifically fairy tales. My series of photographs Proudly To The Vast Ballroom deals with our current societal ideas of gender and domesticity and how our memories influence those norms and, in turn, are influenced by our fairy tale culture. The work in this specific exhibition also strongly relies on staged scenes from my own marriage used to explore modern femininity as it responds to stories we were told as children.
Like the diamond lady, I think about how words can be twisted to our benefit or detriment. I keep in mind how a storybook phrase can be taken out of context, and how it might change when used as a description of a modern woman. I begin every image in this series by collecting excerpts from fairy tales texts and as I read these stories I make note of certain phrases. I work through these phrases, twisting and turning them and exploring what they meant when they were written and how they could still apply to our modern American lives. How these phrases can be misinterpreted is the inspiration to my visual work and it is this misinterpretation that I illustrate.
In these images I revisit my life, act out my fears, and reflect on what I see around me. I investigate the fact that no one woman fits any one female stereotype. The decisions I make about my work are directly linked to the world that I am currently living in. Books I am reading, stories I hear on the news, exchanges with strangers on the street – any of these things may become inspiration for my photographs when paired with the right phrase. The images are dark, and closely shot. In an exploration of the bodily practices of memory work I focus on body parts that coincide with the story I am investigating. Feet for a dancing princess, hands for a big bad wolf, an empty lap for a childless mother - I want this imagery to make the viewer as uncomfortable as I am with the roles that were dictated for me.
There are questions at the core of my work that I don’t know if I will ever satisfactorily answer. Why are so many adult women still carrying around these princess ideas, and why are we passing them on to our daughters? How can we, as a modern society still tell our daughters that someday their prince (and not their princess) will come? And finally, what, as we turn our daughters into princesses and lock them away, are we doing to our sons?
All pieces are printed in limited editions - edition size varies. Each framed piece is the first in the edition, and unframed prints begin at #2 in the edition. Please contact for availability and pricing for framed pieces - PRICES ARE FOR UNFRAMED PRINTS ONLY!
The philosopher Simone de Beauvoir said: “One is not born a woman, one becomes one.” My work deals specifically with how we, as a culture, become women (and men) as distinctly influenced by our interpretations of literature – specifically fairy tales. My series of photographs Proudly To The Vast Ballroom deals with our current societal ideas of gender and domesticity and how our memories influence those norms and, in turn, are influenced by our fairy tale culture. The work in this specific exhibition also strongly relies on staged scenes from my own marriage used to explore modern femininity as it responds to stories we were told as children.
Like the diamond lady, I think about how words can be twisted to our benefit or detriment. I keep in mind how a storybook phrase can be taken out of context, and how it might change when used as a description of a modern woman. I begin every image in this series by collecting excerpts from fairy tales texts and as I read these stories I make note of certain phrases. I work through these phrases, twisting and turning them and exploring what they meant when they were written and how they could still apply to our modern American lives. How these phrases can be misinterpreted is the inspiration to my visual work and it is this misinterpretation that I illustrate.
In these images I revisit my life, act out my fears, and reflect on what I see around me. I investigate the fact that no one woman fits any one female stereotype. The decisions I make about my work are directly linked to the world that I am currently living in. Books I am reading, stories I hear on the news, exchanges with strangers on the street – any of these things may become inspiration for my photographs when paired with the right phrase. The images are dark, and closely shot. In an exploration of the bodily practices of memory work I focus on body parts that coincide with the story I am investigating. Feet for a dancing princess, hands for a big bad wolf, an empty lap for a childless mother - I want this imagery to make the viewer as uncomfortable as I am with the roles that were dictated for me.
There are questions at the core of my work that I don’t know if I will ever satisfactorily answer. Why are so many adult women still carrying around these princess ideas, and why are we passing them on to our daughters? How can we, as a modern society still tell our daughters that someday their prince (and not their princess) will come? And finally, what, as we turn our daughters into princesses and lock them away, are we doing to our sons?
All pieces are printed in limited editions - edition size varies. Each framed piece is the first in the edition, and unframed prints begin at #2 in the edition. Please contact for availability and pricing for framed pieces - PRICES ARE FOR UNFRAMED PRINTS ONLY!
