Copyright 1999-2010
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved.
other words, through self-objectification — at least according to this enduring pop-culture
myth. Our responses to cultural myths about gendered identity are usually visceral and
subconscious. My goal is to make the myth-building work of popular culture, and its
various paradoxes and contradictions, more visible.
I accomplish this goal through subtly altering and recreating specific fashion layouts. For
each painting, I begin by creating a three-dimensional maquette of fashion photography
from a specific issue of a women’s magazine. Working with the maquettes allows me to
communicate three-dimensional space more effectively in my paintings than I could if I
were working straight from two-dimensional magazine photos. That in turn creates a
more immediate and resonant psychological experience of the images for the viewer. In
these paintings I also subtly but deliberately violate the rules of spatial harmony to create
visual dissonance where fashion photographers are so careful to create the appearance
of naturalness, ease and delight. My intent is not so much to critique the fashion industry
as simply to decode some of its most potent subliminal messaging. My work explores
iconic images of idealized femininity in ways that make them playfully ironic, inviting
viewers to reflect on their own personal responses to such images.
Our responses to pop-culture iconography are highly personal and individuated. At the
same time, however, this iconography also binds us together. It provides us, as a society,
with a common visual language for understanding what it means to be normatively
female, to be desirable, and to be worthy of respect and admiration. In this sense, while
we may often perceive ourselves as consuming popular culture both critically and
carelessly — that is to say, we don’t take it seriously, and we are quick to recognize
where the values it transmits seem to be in conflict with our own — it nevertheless plays
an essential role in the construction of the social fabric. Women’s magazines in particular
serve as powerful instruments of socialization; and young women who are in the process
of identity-formation tend to have a highly vexed relationship with these magazines, at
once carping about the unrealistic beauty standards the magazines set and nevertheless
aspiring to attain those standards. Thus, while we may be inclined to dismiss these
magazines as frivolous, lacking in meaningful content, and not worthy of serious
consideration, they in fact do deserve critical attention and consideration because of the
considerable impact they can have on both our individual and our collective
understanding of gendered identity. By pulling fashion-magazine iconography out of its
familiar milieu, where we are encouraged to consume it passively and "for fun," my work
calls attention to the important ideological work that is being performed by these images
that are so often perceived as nothing more than mindless entertainment.
myth. Our responses to cultural myths about gendered identity are usually visceral and
subconscious. My goal is to make the myth-building work of popular culture, and its
various paradoxes and contradictions, more visible.
I accomplish this goal through subtly altering and recreating specific fashion layouts. For
each painting, I begin by creating a three-dimensional maquette of fashion photography
from a specific issue of a women’s magazine. Working with the maquettes allows me to
communicate three-dimensional space more effectively in my paintings than I could if I
were working straight from two-dimensional magazine photos. That in turn creates a
more immediate and resonant psychological experience of the images for the viewer. In
these paintings I also subtly but deliberately violate the rules of spatial harmony to create
visual dissonance where fashion photographers are so careful to create the appearance
of naturalness, ease and delight. My intent is not so much to critique the fashion industry
as simply to decode some of its most potent subliminal messaging. My work explores
iconic images of idealized femininity in ways that make them playfully ironic, inviting
viewers to reflect on their own personal responses to such images.
Our responses to pop-culture iconography are highly personal and individuated. At the
same time, however, this iconography also binds us together. It provides us, as a society,
with a common visual language for understanding what it means to be normatively
female, to be desirable, and to be worthy of respect and admiration. In this sense, while
we may often perceive ourselves as consuming popular culture both critically and
carelessly — that is to say, we don’t take it seriously, and we are quick to recognize
where the values it transmits seem to be in conflict with our own — it nevertheless plays
an essential role in the construction of the social fabric. Women’s magazines in particular
serve as powerful instruments of socialization; and young women who are in the process
of identity-formation tend to have a highly vexed relationship with these magazines, at
once carping about the unrealistic beauty standards the magazines set and nevertheless
aspiring to attain those standards. Thus, while we may be inclined to dismiss these
magazines as frivolous, lacking in meaningful content, and not worthy of serious
consideration, they in fact do deserve critical attention and consideration because of the
considerable impact they can have on both our individual and our collective
understanding of gendered identity. By pulling fashion-magazine iconography out of its
familiar milieu, where we are encouraged to consume it passively and "for fun," my work
calls attention to the important ideological work that is being performed by these images
that are so often perceived as nothing more than mindless entertainment.
D A W N H U N T E R
Artist Statement
To follow the link to Dawn Hunter's resume click here.
Portfolios
My Barbie Series:
The Zita Drawings:
Spectacle Spectacular Portfolios:
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Save Nothing, 2009
I create visual representations of our often
complex and ambivalent psychological
relationship with the messages about
gendered identity that are disseminated
through popular culture. Having conducted
extensive research on fashion photography
in the latter part of the 20th century, for
example, I’ve been particularly struck by the
persistence of one particular seductive
promise: that by recognizing their bodies as
malleable objects which are always capable
of improvement, women can attain greater
status and power, and lead richer, more
exciting lives. Self-advancement comes, in
complex and ambivalent psychological
relationship with the messages about
gendered identity that are disseminated
through popular culture. Having conducted
extensive research on fashion photography
in the latter part of the 20th century, for
example, I’ve been particularly struck by the
persistence of one particular seductive
promise: that by recognizing their bodies as
malleable objects which are always capable
of improvement, women can attain greater
status and power, and lead richer, more
exciting lives. Self-advancement comes, in
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Link to: 2009 essay by Dr. Cheryl Kramer
Director Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College.
Director Handwerker Gallery, Ithaca College.
