Photographs and objects

My thesis consists of photographs and objects which can be divided into two categories. The first is a group of pictures taken in department stores of women's wear and accessory displays and a series of store mirrors. Also Included with these photographs are several actual displays which I have fabricated. In the second group, photographs are juxtaposed with real objects outside the picture in the gallery space. The department store "still-lifes" have for me an artificial, absurd, surreal quality which I hope becomes more apparent by removing them from their context through photographs. I am not trying to explain but just to present. I enjoy finding these displays which others have made. When I was painting I always disliked setting up a still-life and preferred finding things which already had a place. I am documenting vignettes of fashion and taste which are always changing. A display has a short life, and is soon replaced by something newer and more seasonal. The combination of a few objects can express values, taste, class and personality. Judgements are made in constructing these displays which speak to the consumer public. I am interested in these hidden messages. The mirror photographs deal with a feeling of displacement that I experience in these large, rambling stores. I am always getting turned around, feeling lost, catching myself in mirrors thinking at first it is someone else. Mirrors become like doors and doors become like mirrors