Who or what is the ‘Other’?
And how does our perception of ‘It’ differ from the way we perceive ‘Ourselves’?
This project deconstructs the process of Othering and thereby illuminates the mythical creation of The Other.
On one hand the artist portrays herself as the pinnacle of the perfect 'Self', the counterpart of The Other. The images are inspired by the shared cultural perception of the Self in the West, the aesthetic norms adhered to the Self and the depiction of the highest achievable form of perfection shown in different media forms, most notably in Hollywood movies such as 'Pleasantville', 'Stepford Wives' where these iconic archetypes are pushed to the extreme.
The other part of this project shows the artist as the mythical ‘Other'. Inspired by the way the 'exotic Other' was created through the Western gaze during the era of the human zoo's, the artist layers absurd stereotypical images on top of each other with the intention of deconstructing the process of Othering and illuminating the mythical creation of the Other.
"Interrogating stereotypes makes them uninhabitable, it destroys their naturalness and normality" - Stuart Hall