Ungentle

2017 4x5 Large Format Film Photographs ​As a survivor of sexual assault, I am chronically reminded of the disconnect between my body and my psyche, physical and internal, in the eyes of the male spectator. We as women struggle daily to be comfortable in our own skin, whether we’re outside or in the comforts of our own home. We are under constant scrutiny from the eyes of those with more power, space, and voice. And this is a societal, patriarchal impediment. The projection of sexuality and desire is constantly engrained in the cells of our skin, whether we have knowledge over it or not. We are perceived as merely objects, and thus our bodies easily anthropomorphize into other objects at the hands of men. The Renaissance, specifically, interlaced this notion within the platform of art, building an allegorical language around the way in which the male gaze can penetrate a woman, regardless of her presence existing within the piece. However, this allusion did not end when the era did; we have become preconditioned with this language subconsciously, with it’s imagery becoming more subtle as time proceeds. As this language is deeply ingrained in our minds, how can I challenge it? How can I disrupt the sexual implications placed on our bodies in any way other than to challenge the platform in which the language originated? I wanted “ungentle” to be an aid in visually destroying the erotic, sexual implications renaissance artists have placed on women through the use of common objects. Thus, with the defacement of these highly destructive allusions the woman is not an object of desire, an object of lust, or an object at all.