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The Velasquez painting “Maids of Honor” has been the source for many paintings. For the artist to appear in his own painting, a mirror must be used. This is my mirror image of “maids of Honor” and is an attempt to put back into painting some of the density that Barnett Newman took out. The foreground figures do not have reflections. A reflection would indicate where the viwer is standing. I want the viewer to be free to choose any person reflected in the mirror as their own image. The theme is narcissism. The absence of foreground figures reflected in the mirror should be no more disconcerting than the absence of the reflected man in Manet’s “Bar at the Folies Bergeres."Label
2023, The Art of Gender (outdoor sign installation)
Many women feel the need to alter their appearance to fit beauty standards. Some achieve this through makeup or plastic surgery. These professional bodybuilders wanted to become as visually muscular as possible using exercise as well as potentially harmful steroids. How far would you go to appear “beautiful”?
–Kamryn Dollahon, WU student