Dress Up

Dress Up 2013/2010

Digital Photography Series

Still Lives

'blue moon'

'disco'

'empty'

'glitterhand'

'littlepiggy'

'nirvana'

'superstar'

'totallybaked'

'tradition'

'who's next'

‘dress up’

The Barbie Doll still lives are satires that parody the

'Culture of Glamour' that exists in our society today.

These photographic images humorously comment on the commodification and glorification of modern and contemporary concepts of beauty and glamour.

I reference the very real issues that Barbie Doll brings up - sexism, racism, and identity. The issues that I reference in the Barbie Photographs are painful but I think, and hope others think, the final images are humorous. I beleive we can heal the darkest of shadows with humor and laughter. I think when we can laugh at something that could be considered painful for us, we take our power back. 

The digital photographic series title ‘dress up’ references the children’s game most of us have played, in one form or another. The game is typically about the experience of trying on our parents/caregivers clothes and accessories; a child experiencing a moment of an adult’s life. Playing dress up is a fantasy game that explores the unknown and the unfamiliar. One tries on different identities when playing dress up, like wearing a mask during Mardi Gras. 

I think the Barbie Doll still life photographs visually reference the game ‘dress up’ in many ways. In some photographs I chose to place ‘World’ Barbie’s in to Barbie Doll’s environment using Barbie Doll’s things. In other photographs I chose to focus more on

Barbie Doll’s things than on the Barbie Doll. And as for Barbie Doll herself, I chose to create ‘forensic like’ environments that reminded me of little TV crime scenes. These are the funniest images for me - the secret dysfunctional reality of Barbie Doll’s crime world.

Almost all women around the world have been exposed to the Barbie Doll at one time or another and most of us have actually played the game dress up while playing with our Barbie Dolls. Some of us love her and some of us don’t like her very much....

I chose to reject the Barbie Doll as soon as I learned what she represented - and I was a fast learner. I knew, as well as most women knew - we would never look like

‘Barbie Doll the teenage fashion model’ and some of us - really didn’t care. I embraced alternative punk rock culture and hip hop at a very young age so when I was young I fantasized about a being a punk rocker and a hip hop star as opposed to a Barbie Doll living in Barbie Doll’s world. Who knew that as I explore my social political identity, my photographic voice would be talking about Barbie.