Internalization of the Male Gaze.

This piece reflects on my experience, and the shared experience, of internalizing the male gaze. How the male gaze functions to subdue women even in their own private realms of existence. This gaze has seeped into the psyche of females across the globe so they come to judge and berate themselves before even step away from the mirror of self reflection.

This installation divides a corner of space into a dressing room. Made from repurposed wood doors (found in the alley behind my house), the exterior features ceramic forms of femininity (skirts, ribbons, wings, flowers, parasols, shells, etc) juxtaposed with cravings of the same nature. The subtractive and additive adornments speak to the expectations projected onto women by media that they should cut away parts of themselves that are undesirable, and superficially impose elements to their appearance in the name of “beautification.”

Upon moving behind the shade, viewers are confronted with a chaotic collage highlighting how women are used as props; exposing absurd beauty standards; how they are hyper-sexualization; revealing how the male gaze subjects them to being objects under constant surveillance. This omnipresent gaze becomes apparent as a surveillance camera seems to follow ones reflection in shattered mirror, where it becomes difficult to view oneself as a whole.

The dressing room is completed with a table on animal-skin heels, speaking to the objectification women suffer from delicately existing to be looked at.

Installed at O’Sullivan Gallery in Denver, CO April-August 2020.

Currently on display at Tweak’d Studios in Denver, CO.