My idea stemmed from the themes of the work of artists like Cindy Sherman and Nan Goldin. This project explored how certain mental aspects can drive females to create and design an external persona to make up for the feeling of being trapped inside of their bodies.

The piece takes the form of two video sequences. These videos showcase myself in the clothing/guise of what I consider to be the most prominent modern female archetypes. I chose to film and portray the characters in a way that feels like an investigation of who they are, not just visually but also psychologically. For each persona, I began with a simple portrait in front of a flesh tone background. I left the camera running and let my mind wander to the point where at times I forgot the camera was running. The outcome was this series of raw unfiltered footage. I then filmed various stereotypical and Clichéd scenarios that these types of women would potentially be found in.
My process began with an attempt to discover who these women are. I used myself as a jumping off point. I made charts and even went as far as to observe the social media behavior of women I felt fit the description of each persona. To really understand the effect of visual representation, I spent a day in the guise of the punk persona. She has short black hair, dark exaggerated eye makeup and lipstick, fishnets, and a thick velvet choker. I felt like I learned a lot about her through this process. You notice that when you look a certain way you are treated differently, and this is not something you would notice unless you yourself were in her shoes. For example, when I was dressed as the punk looking female, I took my three year old niece to the store with me. It was interesting to see how people stared. Their glances felt unapproving, like they were scared or off-put by me, and it made me incredibly uncomfortable. I even watched my niece recieve a few apologetic glances, which angered me a bit. There really is a science to how your visual expression makes others react.
For the presentation of the footage I took, I projected edited sequences, separately, onto the wall. There is an audio aspect to this as well. I used 1950’s educational videos to help further my presentation. When the footage is being projected, the sound from the separate videos works together to create a whole and consolidated audio experience.