Ardor

2022

This body of work explores femininity, the body, comfort, and the natural landscape.

The project has stemmed from my research into ecofeminism. This is the notion that women and nature are inherently interlinked through their oppression and liberation. My body of work investigates feminine connection to the natural landscape using photographic research, collage, and textiles through the female gaze.

The installation is a large-scale, photography-based project utilizing collage and four-colour silk screen prints to create texture. I have engaged with embroidery and textile elements as a nod to the women’s craft movement. The subject matter in the photographs engage in performative and candid photos, which were taken in a natural landscape chosen by each subject with an emphasis on what natural elements made them feel most comfortable.

The series of work begun as reflections of individual experience in nature but has developed bodily in connection with the natural landscape. The body of work is largely autobiographical as I deeply investigated my own experience with femininity throughout the process of making. The project is intended to grow and develop as I photograph new subject matter to emphasize diversity and inclusivity.

I intend the audience to engage with the work by walking through the installation and observing the small playful details they find. I aspire for the audience to feel comfortable with being confronted by the vulnerable state of the body as portrayed by young women. This project is inviting the audience to feel comfortable with their feminine nature and encourage people to connect with the artwork at a personal, subjective level.

 Photographs by Bo Wong.