A SERIES OF ADJECTIVES

A Series of Adjectives, 2013.
Six 16x20” graphite drawings on paper, mounted on collage.

A Series of Adjectives was my college senior thesis project.
The title was inspired by a quote from Elizabeth Cady Stanton from her 1880 speech titled ‘Our Girls:’ "I would have girls regard themselves not as adjectives but nouns.”

The series is informed by body politics, pop culture, and feminist empowerment. I redrew and tweaked some of my old modeling photos to show the toll of how still developing, body-obsessed youth (like myself, at one point) make their way into women’s magazines. Email correspondences with my then agent contextualize each image.I wanted to explore how being on both the creating and receiving ends of this system has impacted me. I'd ask viewers to examine the media more critically by looking at how its messages affect our sense of self.

*Names of agents and all those involved have been changed or scratched out.