Artist Statement

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The images in Detachment on Display explore issues of beauty, vanity, death and consumerism. Through the use of mannequin props and various pieces of raw meat and seafood, I looked at the artificial nature of the human body on display and animal parts as commodities. 

 

The amputee mannequins symbolize a kind of detachment; detachment of limbs, detachment from their natural setting in storefront windows. Their plastic forms are an idealized shape, yet they are cold and unyielding. The mannequins serve as an artificial substitute for the human body. Yet these artificial bodies are meant to simulate the real human form. The cuts of meat, like the mannequins, are stand-ins for the authentic living and breathing thing. The slices of meat and seafood are cold casualties of a social need, waiting behind glass for absolute consumption.

 

The backgrounds used are very organic and natural, much like the environment of a free animal. But there are imperfections present in the backgrounds, just like the imperfections of a human-dominated food chain. However, beauty overpowers the imagery and one can find it pleasant to observe a small slice of death. My attention to composition, camera angles, and close ups help to create beauty in death and consumption.

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