Many women, including myself, take advantage of cosmetics as a way to further define their outer beauty. My recent body of work explores the element of pain required to meet ideal beauty standards. In researching the cosmetics that I use daily, I was shocked to discover how many ingredients were animal based. Since many people are unaware of what goes into the products they buy, my objective is to divert the audience's attention from the discomfort that the man or woman goes through to attain beauty, to the animals that suffer through the inhumane processes of ingredient collection and testing.
Instead of strictly focusing on the makeup product itself, I divert the observer’s attention to the presence of artificial beauty surrounding the consumer during their ritual of applying cosmetics, while also exploiting the role of the producer in the collection and creation of animal based cosmetics with the depiction of mistreated animals. I also dress my characters with accessories, such as a ruff, which takes its influence from the Elizabethan Era, where pain played a common role in society. A ruff is included around the neck of my figures as a representation of a present day Elizabethan collar, which is the cone that can be found around the neck of a dog. The addition of this specific accessory is intended to symbolize the animalistic tendencies, which allow both the producer and consumer of the cosmetic industry to abuse other beings or themselves for personal gain. The use of gold in my work is intended to highlight the significant features of the composition while also acting as another form of personal desirability for embellishment. My work aims to look through the lens of both the producer and consumer of the cosmetics industry and imitate the effect that advertising and social pressures have on the everyday consumer; pressures that enable the want and need for more possessions and a greater outer appearance.
Instead of strictly focusing on the makeup product itself, I divert the observer’s attention to the presence of artificial beauty surrounding the consumer during their ritual of applying cosmetics, while also exploiting the role of the producer in the collection and creation of animal based cosmetics with the depiction of mistreated animals. I also dress my characters with accessories, such as a ruff, which takes its influence from the Elizabethan Era, where pain played a common role in society. A ruff is included around the neck of my figures as a representation of a present day Elizabethan collar, which is the cone that can be found around the neck of a dog. The addition of this specific accessory is intended to symbolize the animalistic tendencies, which allow both the producer and consumer of the cosmetic industry to abuse other beings or themselves for personal gain. The use of gold in my work is intended to highlight the significant features of the composition while also acting as another form of personal desirability for embellishment. My work aims to look through the lens of both the producer and consumer of the cosmetics industry and imitate the effect that advertising and social pressures have on the everyday consumer; pressures that enable the want and need for more possessions and a greater outer appearance.