ARTIST STATEMENT
Our thriving free market economy is a gateway for a fake sense of belonging disguised by infinite consumption. It offers us artificial self-expression in the form of pre-packaged aesthetics, created to be cloned and sold.
Ripe is a creation of falsified identity inspired by patriotic American consumerism, revealing the marketability and advertisement of identity fueled by slavery to an economic system.
It aims to challenge the viewers’ relationship with consumerism, the online realm as well as the authenticity of their own identity. Do you willingly consume endless bytes of information, allowing it to pick apart your freedom and singularity?
ARTWORK PROCESS
Creating Ripe was centered around consistent modification and glamorization. It was about the adherence of layers in order to create a visually seductive and highly marketable mirage.
It involved my physical embodiment of an artificial personality paired with inviting colours to represent a marketable ideal. This persona was captured and enhanced with high vibrancy, contrast and saturation, emphasising bold and enticing features.
Reality was altered when the subject was placed in a phantasmal background realm, lacquered with a symbolic artificial plastic film filter and embellished with plastic rhinestones, adding an element of glamour to flirtatious illusion of consumerism.
